25-year old Chris left school at 16 and went straight to work in manufacturing, making skirting boards, doorframes and window boards. But when the recession hit, the jobs stopped coming in. “It was a small place,” says Chris, “There were seven of us. Five of us got laid off.” At first, he spent all his time looking for work at the job centre and the library, and in the local newspapers, hearing back from only one in ten places he applied for, always with a rejection. He says, “After eight months of not getting anywhere, you start thinking, ‘What’s the point?'” There was little support at home, and he stopped hanging around with his friends because he didn’t want to be drawn into crime and drugs. Most evenings, he goes to his grandmother’s house to cook her dinner. In his spare time, he goes walking in the woods, usually alone. “If I had kids, I wouldn’t want to bring them up around here,” he says, “There’s nothing to do here for young people. I’ve got to get out.”

Source: http://figr.es/s007