Young people are worried about high tertiary education fees and their chances of securing a job, according to a national study of Australian teenagers which found they are increasingly doubtful about their future.
Mission Australia's annual youth survey of almost 20,000 people aged 15-19 identified a decline in the proportion of youngsters feeling positive about their prospects.
Just over half the respondents felt they would face difficulty achieving their work and study goals, citing lack of jobs, financial pressure and academic ability.
Mission Australia chief executive Catherine Yeomans said governments and industry need to work together to provide more support for young people as they grapple with post-school options.
"These young people are not growing up in a vacuum," she said.
"They have sisters and brothers who are not finding it easy to get a job, no matter how well they did at school, no matter how well they have done at university. They are well aware of the high rates of youth unemployment."
It takes the average young person five years to find a full time job after study, compared with only one year in 1986, according a report from the Foundation for Young Australians.
Competition for low skilled work is intense, with the Department of Employment finding that an average of 18 people apply for each position.
Adding to the pressure on young people is the cost of undertaking further study to increase their chances of employment.
"Young people notice that their families are doing it tough - there is not a lot of spare cash around," Ms Yeomans said.
"A lot of young people see others doing the courses, incurring the student debts. Young people are seeing people ahead of them who are not securing the jobs and have this sizeable debt. The return on investment comes into question."
Coping with stress was the top issue of personal concern among the young people surveyed with young women three times more likely to say they were "extremely concerned" about coping with stress than young men.
Ms Yeomans said that was indicative of the strains facing young people in the last few years of school, with nearly two-thirds saying they hoped to go to university after finishing year 12.
Collaroy Plateau student Danielle Wheeler, 15, hopes to study early childhood education when she finishes school and agreed there was pressure to achieve a certain ATAR.
"There is pressure to get the right score because if you don't get it you have to go through a different pathway to be accepted into the course you want and that sets you back with your degree," she said.
Her friend Gabbi Marsh, also 15, hopes to study physiotherapy after school and was conscious of the work which lies ahead.
"If you want to get a really high ATAR you have to work hard for it," she said. "You can't just bludge around. You need to have a study routine. If you have a plan, it makes it less stressful because you don't leave things to the last minute."
