The Youth Jobs Gap report: Exploring compound disadvantage, published by education and employment charity Impetus, provides the clearest and most comprehensive evidence yet on the barriers that create stark disparities in employment outcomes for young people across England.

Using the Government’s Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset, the report uncovers how factors such as socio-economic background, qualifications, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), ethnicity, gender, and geography each contribute to young people’s employment outcomes.

The report, finds for the first time that, for many young people, the combined effect of these factors is associated with being dramatically more likely to be out of work, education or training (NEET) – and identifies the local areas with the highest likelihood of young people being out of work and learning.

Young people experiencing these multiple layers of disadvantage will remain excluded from the labour market unless there is a concerted effort to support them, meaning that to achieve economic growth, the government will need to capitalise on the talents of this wider group of young people.

The research shows that strong GCSE results can be a gamechanger: young people from low socio-economic backgrounds with high qualifications are 27% less likely to be NEET than average, demonstrating the importance of education in levelling the playing field.

Alarmingly, this analysis also sheds light on the paucity of official data in this area, demonstrating the extent of the problem to overcome. This is particularly evident when it comes to geographical and ethnic group differences:

• Eight of the top ten local authority areas associated with the highest likelihood of being NEET are concentrated in the North of England and the Midlands, underlining a geographically uneven playing field when it comes to employment prospects for young people.
  
• There are also significant variations in NEET rates within ethnic groups, which do not show up in official data. Young people from Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller communities, along with mixed White and Black Caribbean backgrounds, face the highest NEET rates, indicating deep-seated structural barriers.

It is a huge waste of human potential that nearly a million young people are out of employment, training or education, and that those young people who are facing the most barriers have such bleak prospects is both socially unacceptable and economically unsustainable.

This research gives us the clearest picture to date of how damaging multiple barriers to employment can be for some young people.

While many will be carried by the tide of buoyant economic conditions, there are those who, whether in a tight or slack labour market, will fall behind. These young people deserve to secure the education, qualifications, and opportunities they need for a fulfilling life. But that will only be achieved if we can understand who they are, and what barriers they face.

Solving the problem of high NEET rates will only be achieved through better and more nuanced data and analysis than official government data is currently able to deliver on the specific barriers young people are facing, and therefore who needs to be targeted with the support they need.

Action today is crucial not only for the future of our economy but for the future of a generation.

Ayesha Baloch, author of the report and Senior Policy Advisor, Impetus

This data underlines the scale of the problems this government inherited and offers a reminder of the scale of the challenge we face to Get Britain Working again.

No one should be held back by the kind of inequalities highlighted in this report, and I am determined to make sure every young person is either earning or learning through our Youth Guarantee.

As part of our Plan for Change we are investing £45 million in youth employment support to ensure that no one gets left behind as we drive up growth and opportunity in every corner of the country.

Alison McGovern, Minister for Employment

Understanding barriers to workforce entry and success is core to our commitment to help individuals achieve economic mobility. This in-depth analysis shines light on the educational and occupational attainment challenges that many face. Furthermore, it illuminates how individuals’ life circumstances can impede their fiscal well-being and hinder broader efforts to ensure strong local, national and global economies. We appreciate the rigor with which Impetus undertook this important study, especially knowing evidence-based interventions will be needed to better ensure opportunities for all young people.

Michelle Armstrong, President of the Ares Charitable Foundation, which funded the research

Key Findings

The report uncovers how young people facing multiple layers of disadvantage face the bleakest prospects:

• Triple jeopardy: Young people who are from low socio-economic backgrounds, who have low qualifications and also have SEND are almost three times more likely to be not in education, training or employment (NEET), with a NEET rate 170% higher than the average. If you are a young person from a disadvantaged background growing up with low qualifications and SEND in Hartlepool, you are more likely than not to be not in employment, education or training – 55% of over 400 young people in this category are NEET.

• Geographical divides: NEET rates are highest in areas like Knowsley, Middlesbrough, Nottingham and Hartlepool. The ten local authority areas with the highest NEET challenges include both urban areas and coastal towns, underlining a geographically uneven playing field.

• Marginalised communities: young people from Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller groups face some of the greatest risk of exclusion from the labour market, with the Irish Traveller group being over three times more likely to be NEET than average.

Multiple factors affect outcomes

The report finds factors like gender, ethnicity, and geography further exacerbate inequalities:

• Young people identified with SEND are 80% more likely to be NEET compared to the average.

• Low qualifications are the strongest driver of becoming NEET, regardless of gender, disability or disadvantage.

• Among disadvantaged groups, white and mixed-race young people with low qualifications have the highest NEET rates.

• Low-qualified girls from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be NEET than their male counterparts, despite girls generally being less likely to be NEET.

Regional Inequality

Young people growing up in Knowsley, Middlesbrough, Nottingham or Hartlepool Local Authority areas have the highest chances of being NEET compared to the average. This is likely due to higher proportions of young people with multiple barriers to employment living in these areas. The 10 local authority areas with the highest NEET rates are:

1. Knowsley
2. Middlesbrough
3. Nottingham
4. Hartlepool
5. Islington
6. Manchester
7. Kingston upon Hull
8. Newcastle upon Tyne
9. Sandwell
10. Portsmouth

Differences within groups matter

Pakistani young people are 9% more likely to be NEET than average, while Bangladeshi young people, in contrast, are less likely to be NEET than average. These groups are traditionally reported together in official statistics, suggesting the need to decouple them for better understanding of the barriers to employment for specific ethnic groups.

Solutions

The report also shows that there is good news. While low qualifications can harm job prospects, strong GCSE results can be a gamechanger: young people from low socio-economic backgrounds with high qualifications are 27% less likely to be NEET than average, demonstrating the importance of education in levelling the playing field.

For further information and spokespeople please contact press@impetus.org.uk