IPPR - Economic recovery not enough to solve youth unemployment

14 Aug 2014 01:03 PM
Better apprenticeships, vocational education & careers guidance key to success

Even a full-blown economic recovery will not solve the UK’s “structural youth unemployment” problem, according to a new report from the think tank IPPR. The report is published ahead of the latest official UK unemployment figures, which have been falling steadily for the last year.

The report argues that youth unemployment is lower in countries where the vocational route into employment through formal education and training is as clear as the academic route. It says the quality of vocational education and training is crucial, because it can raise the status of the vocational route in the eyes of employers and young people. It also argues that a high degree of employer involvement in the vocational education and training system results in lower youth unemployment.

The report highlights the dramatic fall in unemployment over the last year, with 141,000 fewer young people unemployed, 64,000 fewer than the previous quarter. The youth unemployment rate has fallen from 20.9% a year ago to 17.8%.

But the report shows there are still 868,000 young people aged 16 to 24 unemployed and 247,000 of them have been looking for work for over a year. Around 700,000 workless young people have never had a job and almost one million are classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET). The report shows that even if full-time students were excluded, someone aged 16 to 24 was over three and a half times more likely to be unemployed in 2007 than a person aged 25 and over – a ratio that was little changed at the beginning of 2014.

The report shows that careers education and guidance play a crucial role in ensuring a smooth transition from education to work in European countries that have low rates of youth unemployment, but argues that it has been badly neglected in England. The report recommends:

The report shows a mismatch between jobs available and courses young people are studying. For example, 94,000 people were trained in beauty and hair for just 18,000 jobs, while only 123,000 were trained in the construction and engineering sectors for an advertised 275,000 jobs.

The report recommends reforms to apprenticeships including:

Tony Dolphin, IPPR Chief Economist, said:

“While the last six or seven years have been particularly tough for the latest generation of young people, even before the financial crisis many of those entering the labour market for the first time were struggling to compete with older workers for jobs. Although there has been a sharp fall in the number of unemployed young people over the last year, it is unlikely that even a full-blown economic recovery will fully solve the UK’s structural youth unemployment problem.

“We can learn lots from countries like Germany and the Netherlands. The experience of young people across Europe shows a strong workplace-based vocational education and training system, with high employer involvement, contributes more to a smoother transition from education to work and a low rate of youth unemployment than anything else. The UK system is some way from the best in Europe.”

Notes to Editors

IPPR’s new report – Remember the Young Ones – will be available from Wednesday August 13th http://www.ippr.org/publications/remember-the-young-ones-improving-career-opportunities-for-britains-young-people

IPPR recommends a distinct work, training and benefits system should be established for young people. Its main features would be:

For more, see IPPR’s recent report – No more NEETs – is available from:http://www.ippr.org/publications/no-more-neets-a-plan-for-all-young-people-to-be-learning-or-earning

Contacts

Richard Darlington, 07525 481 602, r.darlington@ippr.org

Sofie Jenkinson, 07981 023 031, s.jenkinson@ippr.org