Stemming the NEET tide

Debate around the shocking number of NEET young people and youth unemployment is inevitably focused on what the government is going to do NOW.  That’s important, but it makes no sense for all our efforts to be concentrated on emergency flood relief.  Just as urgent are solutions further up stream, because regardless of when we see an upturn in the economy, another generation of disengaged young people is waiting in the wings.

According to government figures, almost 400,000 children missed at least a month’s worth of lessons in the school year 2010/11, with those on free school meals or with special educational needs, around three times more likely to be persistently absent.  Of pupils who miss between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of school, only 35 per cent manage to achieve five A* to C GCSEs, including English and maths.

Many are children like Luke, the subject of a short online film that gives us a glimpse of his world.  Luke has aspirations.  He wants to be a vet.  What is heartbreaking is that at just eleven he already senses that somehow that is a step too far for someone like him and that he probably won’t make it.

What can we do for Luke?  A lot.  Early intervention programmes, backed by PEF, look beyond the classroom to resolve challenging circumstances at home, work in schools to give mental health support, and provide near peer mentors, all with the aim of improving attendance and academic attainment in areas of deprivation.

In addition, ThinkForward, PEF’s latest breakthrough programme assigns ‘at risk’ 14 year olds with their own ‘super coach’ who works with them right up to age 19, giving them a personalised action plan, workplace mentor, introductions to business networks and work opportunities.

My dream is that we can get to young people like Luke before they stop dreaming.  While of course we must do everything we can to for the current cohort of young people without work, let’s not leave it all so late for Luke.

Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive, Private Equity Foundation

 

Give the next generation a chance: it might be easier than you think

Young people are either unable or taking longer to secure a first foot on the job ladder.  In England alone, around 450,000 NEETs have yet to make the move from learning into work, outside casual or holiday jobs.  There’s evidence that more employers expect applicants to be ‘job ready’ leading to a catch 22: no skills, no job; no job, no skills.

For the sake of all our futures, we need to close the growing gulf our young people face between leaving school and finding employment.  In the current economic climate that’s a big ask, but employers unable to offer young people jobs or apprenticeships can still have a role.

 

At a recent Work Foundation event, Dr Anthony Mann, Director of Policy and Research at the Education and Employers Taskforce, pointed to a relationship between the extent of employer engagement arranged during school years (14-19) and the successful labour market progression of young adults (19-24).  He found that each employer contact improved the odds of being non-NEET by 29 per cent.

 

The provision of work shadowing, mentoring, workplace visits or talks in schools all make a difference.

 

And, despite the current controversy, in interviews carried out as part of a recent Work Foundation report, one important area where long-term young unemployed people felt they had not received the support they needed was around access to opportunities like work experience.  It’s just got to be offered in the right way, not exploitative but opening up new networks and avenues which could lead to a job.

 

There’s plenty of scope. For example last year, research by Demos found that ‘shockingly’ there is currently little to no engagement from local employers or businesses in school ‘career fairs’.

 

We all remember the person who gave us our first break.  If you’re an employer, could you give a young person a helping hand – a connection to the world of work?  As one young person quoted by The Work Foundation said “I love working, I love being busy…If someone could just give me a chance.”

 

Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive, Private Equity Foundation

Youth unemployment: Cyclical or Structural

 

It is easy to assume that Youth Unemployment is merely another sign of recession Britain, yet our recent research project in partnership with The Work Foundation suggests otherwise.  Youth Unemployment was on the rise long before the recession hit and although our post 2007 world has done nothing to alleviate the issue it is not the only factor.  In some parts of the UK 1 in 3 young people are not in employment yet are we worried?  Youth Unemployment is cyclical and although the recession has had a detrimental effect it is not the only cause.  To ensure young people land safely in the labour market, we need to fix both the cyclical and the structural and if we don’t, economic recovery will not be enough to get our young people into work.

The costs are too high to ignore.  The current cohort of young people not in education training or employment will cost the UK economy £35 billion in lost economic opportunities and cost the taxpayer £13 billion over their lifetimes. (Audit commission 2010)  Wage scarring is also likely; Young people who are unemployed for a long time will earn less throughout their whole lives. They will be less employable. They won’t have the skills that business needs and they are more likely to have long-term health problems. The costs are economic, societal and individual – what a waste.

Last year the Private Equity Foundation developed a “Manifesto for action”, a ten point plan for improving the way we as a nation tackle the NEET issue.  It looks at strategic enablers and more pragmatic approaches for getting young people into work.  It highlighted that some of the barriers to work can be as straightforward and solvable as transport being too expensive for some to seek or start work or as culturally significant as a lack of motivation. We heard some stark statements from young people on what they believe the problems to be: services are often termed “irrelevant”, or “confusing and difficult to navigate”, formal, classroom training “lacks relevance” for some in this group and depressingly others commented that there are no second chances. “If at first you don’t succeed, you don’t succeed”.

We are keen to hear more from employers.  Why do they struggle to recruit young people, what are the barriers?  We often ask whether our young people are ready for work, but how ready is the world of work for our young people?

Another crucial element in understanding the barriers our young people are facing is that of local labour market supply and demand.  The UK is not one labour market, but rather is many localised labour markets, each with differing needs and requiring different skills.  Are we giving the local labour market an adequate voice in the preparation and skilling of our young people?  Are we training young people for jobs that simply do not exist or not training them for opportunities which are in demand?  Do young people having realistic expectations of the labour market; I’d ask is there also a need for employers to be realistic about their role in training and skilling young people?

We are working in in partnership with The Work Foundation on a two year research programme which will take a deeper look at some of these issues. Throughout the programme we will be looking at both short and long term ways to help young people become productive members of the labour market and putting forward policy recommendations for fixing both the cyclical and structural relationship our young people have with it – you can view the research papers here  and would love to hear your comments.

Rhian Johns

Private Equity Foundation