YOUTH EMPLOYMENT UK – WRITTEN EVIDENCE (YUN0052)
Youth Unemployment Committee inquiry
Youth Employment UK is a not-for-profit social enterprise set up in 2012 to tackle youth unemployment. As a youth-led organisation our expertise, services and advice is centred around what young people tell us they are experiencing, what they want and need. We are one of the UK’s leading youth employment experts, secretariat to the APPG for Youth Employment and a Co-Founder of the Youth Employment Group.
Our core aims:
● Giving young people a voice on the youth employment issues that affect them
● Support young people on their journey to employment with a range of skills and careers support
● Support organisations to develop and be recognised for their youth friendly employment practice and connecting young people to those Youth Friendly Employers
● Providing expert insight across all youth employment policy areas
Since 2019 Youth Employment UK has produced an Annual Youth Voice Census which is a large UK wide survey of young people aged 14-24, asking questions about their experiences as they journey between education and work. More than 200,000 young people per month visit our online skills and careers hub, and more than 400 organisations in our network have signed up to the Good Youth Employment Charter.
Across the summer of 2021 Youth Employment UK is leading the biggest youth facing campaign to help young people connect to skills and opportunities, this is such a significant campaign given the experiences of young people this last year. #CreatingYourFuture is supported by the Careers & Enterprise Company and a number of other partner organisations.
1. What are the main challenges facing young people seeking employment today? How do structural factors impact youth unemployment, and how might these be addressed?
The impact of Covid-19 on the labour market and how this affects young people is well documented. Youth unemployment has risen to the highest level in the last 5 years and youth unemployment now stands at 14.3%.
Young people face greater competition for roles and the sectors that young people are more likely to work in have yet to reopen fully. Young people have also suffered from not being able to build their skills and experiences over the last 12 months which is likely to impact their confidence but also the confidence of hiring managers.
Prior to Covid youth unemployment was a challenge, there were 760,000 young people not in education, employment or training. This suggests that the youth unemployment challenge existed before Covid and it would be fair to assume if the long term structural issues are not addressed that there will be a youth unemployment challenge in the years to come. The structural issues also mean that young people as a group are vulnerable to any economic challenge as we have seen in the past year, and will undoubtedly see again in the future.
These structural factors include the education to work transition, regional variances, quality of work, composition of labour market, social mobility and discrimination.
In our 2020 Youth Voice Census we asked young people what they thought their barriers were to employment and we were told by young people who had experience of being NEET (not in education, employment or training) that their barriers to employment were:
● Lack of work experience
● Anxiety
● No available jobs
● Not having the right skills
● Travel/location
● Mental health issues
We also heard that social status and discrimination were barriers for some young people.
To tackle youth unemployment and to create a society where all young people can fulfill their potential irrespective of who they are and where they are must become a core principle for the government of the day. The cost of youth unemployment to the government, society and for those young people themselves should be reason enough but it should also be about doing the right thing for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
Independently and as part of our work with the Youth Employment Group we have called for the need to join up youth and youth employment policy across government; elements of youth employment policy sit across multiple departments including Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Communities, Media and Sport with some working areas within the Cabinet Office, Home Office, MHCLG and BEIS. This fragmented approach to young people and youth employment means that there has been a lack of coordination between departments and policies, investment has been duplicated and services potentially compete with each other. By having a central and targeted approach the government would be able to create meaningful and long term policy that works for young people, an approach which would talk to the “levelling up” agenda.
2. What are the main challenges facing employers in the labour market today? What barriers do they face in recruiting young workers and setting up apprenticeships and traineeships?
Young people have frequently told us they do not feel employers are youth friendly, in the 2020 Youth Voice Census only 31% of respondents told us they thought employers were youth friendly and 47% of young people told us that they were unsure and not confident that they would be able to move on into meaningful employment.
At the same time we hear from employers that they do not feel young people are ready to work with the skills that are required, employers also find the landscape difficult to navigate. They are not always confident they understand how best to create opportunities for young people and the number of government initiatives can be overwhelming to navigate particularly for SMEs. Anecdotally we have heard that there are employers who are keen to offer traineeship and apprenticeship routes who cannot find the adequate provision, this is something that needs to be better understood.
But possibly and more importantly employers do not often prioritise recruitment of young people, the Apprenticeship Levy has certainly swayed employers to consider people of all ages when hiring apprentices and to use the Levy to upskill existing staff, this is seen in the number of apprentices starts at lower level and for those under 19 continuing to fall since its introduction. Through our work with the Youth Employment Group we support calls to prioritise employer incentives for young people and to review the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy on youth employment.
Employers require support to better understand the value that young people can bring to their businesses and how often it is the employer's own outreach, recruitment and overall opportunity that can be a barrier for young people. We see examples of employers requiring high level qualifications and multiple years of experience for entry-level roles, locking out young talented people who do not fit such high standards. Job descriptions are often difficult to understand and get excited about, particularly for young people with limited experience of the world of work and employers expect young people to be able to navigate complex recruitment processes and show up with core employability skills despite understanding the inconsistencies of careers education and work experience in the education system.
In addition many employers do not invest in quality development and training programmes for staff of all ages. Investment in training and personal development has significantly reduced creating further skill gaps in the workforce.
In 2012 Youth Employment UK co-created with young people and a range of partners the Good Youth Employment Charter, a Charter that encouraged employers to consider best youth employment practice. In 2020 the Charter was updated as part of a work strand of the Youth Employment Group. Organisations who sign the Charter not only benefit from being recognised as Youth Friendly but they are also part of a network that shares good practice, youth-led insight and provides important legislation and policy updates, helping employers navigate the government opportunities.
There are now more than 400 Good Youth Employment Charter Members and we encourage the government to recognise the importance of the Charter and the support it provides employers to meet its 5 principles:
Creating opportunity – Provide opportunities for young people to gain the skills and experiences they need, through meaningful and good quality experiences of the world of work that raise their aspirations, skills and personal networks.
Recognising Talent – Recruit young people based on their ability, talent and potential, recognising they may have limited experience. Ensure young people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority groups, as well as those young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds or those with additional needs or barriers are not unfairly excluded.
Fair Employment – Provide good quality employment opportunities for young people, such as apprenticeships, graduate roles, entry level jobs and supported internships. Offer fair and safe opportunities and rewards in accordance with the highest industry standards.
Developing People – Promote the development of all young people through on and off the job training and support so they are motivated to take ownership and responsibility for their careers, and they are equipped to progress.
Youth Voice – Listen to young people. Actively provide opportunities for their voice to be heard within a community or organisation.
5. Does the national curriculum equip young people with the right knowledge and skills to find secure jobs and careers? What changes may be needed to ensure this is the case in future?
In the 2020 Youth Voice Census 67% of respondents felt that their education options suited their style of learning, this was lower for young black people only 49% of black respondents felt that their education options suited them. One of the main reasons young people recorded that their education options did not suit them were because of lack of choice.
We have seen significant technological developments, changing economic conditions and increased globalisation but despite this the education system has not kept up. Young people are still studying the same curriculum of 20 years or more, there are not enough options for digital, computing, design and technology and creative subjects within the core curriculum despite these being growth and in-demand areas. The focus on the Ebac for many schools has reduced creativity in the secondary curriculum offer.
There is excellent evidence from organisations such as The Edge Foundation and Federation for Education Development that provide a blueprint for what a good progressive education system could look like and we support the work and thinking of these organisations.
From young people we know that they do not feel their education experience has prepared them for their next stage of life.
6. Is careers education preparing young people with the knowledge to explore the range of opportunities available? What role does work experience play in this regard?
Careers education has never been excellent in the UK, but the work of The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) is changing the landscape, there are a growing number of schools looking to meet or meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks and the links between education and employment are growing. This is positive news and needs to continue to build at an ambitious pace. Not all young people have the same access to support and information and not all schools are where they need to be.
The excellent practice identified by Careers Leaders and schools within the CEC network needs to be harnessed and the Department for Education should provide further guidance to all schools requiring them to meet the bar set by these excellent leaders.
In the 2020 Youth Voice Census we see the differences that still exist with pathways such as university still promoted more frequently than any other pathway. But the Census also highlighted how there are differences in information given to students dependent on their gender, race, despite social and economic status. Not all students hear about apprenticeships or starting their own business, and few students learn about the support that is available to them should they need it in their future. Further investment should be made to understand these differences and to ensure that there is equality in careers education provision and young people are given the personalised support they need to make future decisions.
Work experience plays a vital role in preparing young people for the world of work, it helps to boost confidence, key employability skills and to help with future career decision making. In the 2020 Youth Voice Census we saw that the offer of work experience to students increased 14% from the previous year to 66% of respondents being offered work experience.
Young people told us that they were overall satisfied with the quality of their work experience placement but continue to ask for more choice in opportunities.
It was particularly good to see that in the 2020 Youth Voice Census the number of apprenticeship and employer visits to schools had increased on the previous year.
Of course the last 12 months of Covid mean that almost all face-to-face work experience placements will have been cancelled, meaning many young people have now missed the opportunity for this vital experience.
Understanding that not all young people have had the opportunity to grow their skills and experience the world of work Youth Employment UK developed a number of free resources for 14-24 year olds including a virtual introduction to work experience and an online careers and employability programme called the Young Professional. The Young Professional supports young people to better understand themselves, their barriers and the opportunities around them, it teaches core employability skills, introduces work experience and supports young people on the transition to employment, also providing access to support when young people need it the most.
We strongly encourage the government to embed the Young Professional programme into schools, colleges and through programmes such as apprenticeships and kickstart.The programme allows for young people to self serve the content, information and support they need that is impartial and of the highest quality at no cost to government or the young people or providers taking part.
Young people who have used the Young Professional report growing confidence, knowledge and aspirations.
8. What more needs to be done to ensure parity of esteem between vocational and academic study in the jobs market and society? How can funding play a role in this?
Young people do see the benefits of apprenticeships over university pathways and are keen to explore apprenticeship opportunities. Unfortunately for many young people the volume of apprenticeship opportunities means that they may have no choice but to apply for university. In the 2020 Youth Voice Census only 13% of young people were very confident that they would find quality jobs in their local area. And of those who had looked for an apprenticeship in their local area 35% said they could not find any appropriate apprenticeship opportunities at the right level Until there are equal amounts of apprenticeship options at level 2 through to degree apprenticeships it will be difficult for young people to prioritise this pathway. Investment needs to be put into the information and support for employers to create quality apprenticeship opportunities and for there to be an increase in the quality of providers available across the country.
72% of young people who responded to the Youth Voice Census and were in or had completed an apprenticeship said their apprenticeship was helpful in preparing them for their next steps. 85% of young respondents rated their apprenticeship as good or excellent,valuing off-the job training (64%), support received (88%), Salary (61%), progression (77%) and building skills (88%).
Successful apprenticeship programmes that provide quality employment, training and enrichment for young people should be modelled and higher standards set against that model so all young people regardless of where they live and what apprenticeship level or profession can expect the same level of quality.
Youth Employment UK supports employers and providers to understand what quality youth employment looks like including through apprenticeships. The Good Youth Employment Charter is the route to that support and we recommend all employers and providers of traineeships and apprenticeships are targeted to work towards those principles and the standards laid out in the Good Youth Employment Framework.
Submission End
Further Links
Link to the Youth Voice Census
Link to the Good Youth Employment Charter
Link to the free support available to employers
Link to the virtual work experience
Link to the Young Professional Programme
Link to free skills and careers help for young people
11th May 2021