What is "youth worker"

n. (context UK English) A person who works with youngsters, to promote informal education.

A Youth worker is a person that works with young people to engage them in informal education. Youth workers can work in many contexts. In the UK and elsewhere, the main distinction is usually made between statutory, those who work as part of a government run initiative, and non-statutory, those that work in any other context. See the article Youth work for a full explanation, and the article History of youth work for a brief time line. Note that, in some circumstances, the term should be carefully distinguished from Child and Youth Worker which refers to therapeutic work in the USA and Canada.