Close to one in five unemployed young people have been out of work for at least a year despite trying just as hard as older jobseekers to find employment, a report has found.

The report by anti-poverty organisation The Brotherhood of St Laurence, to be released on Monday, shows there is little difference between young people and older jobseekers when it comes to their job search activities.

For example, 73.2 per cent of 15-24-year-old jobseekers wrote, phoned or applied in person to an employer for work, compared to 72.1 per cent of unemployed people aged 25 and over and 72.4 per cent of people of all ages.

Using data from the longitudinal Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, The Brotherhood of St Laurence report analysed the assumption that young people were less active in looking for work.