The Parliamentary Education Committee has set up an enquiry - Making Further Education fit for the Future? https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/3576/ Any enquiry into this forgotten sector is to be welcome, but its title is rather a misnomer - it isn’t really a enquiry about FE at all. As its subtitle and the initial terms of reference for … Continue reading Making Further Education fit for the Future?
Category: Youth unemployment and youth jobs
Review the National Curriculum, but also young people and work.
Despite its limited terms of reference, the National Curriculum Review should get rid of the worst aspects of Michael Gove’s 2010 ‘reforms’ – making the curriculum broader, less Eurocentric and more inclusive. At least an element of Creative Arts is likely to be restored, along with greater access to sport and vocational subjects. Given the … Continue reading Review the National Curriculum, but also young people and work.
More than one in seven young people are NEET.
Despite fears that slower wage growth might mean the labour market is ‘cooling’, latest statistics suggest otherwise, with a general participation rate of 75% and unemployment only just above 4%. However, ‘economic inactivity’ – those not working but not looking for work – still sits at over 20%, reflecting what commentators have termed a ‘great … Continue reading More than one in seven young people are NEET.
The return of the NEET
This month’s labour market statistics show the employment rate at 75.5%, a fall of half a percentage point on the previous quarter. Unemployment has also risen by over half a percentage point to 4.3% - up from 3.7% a year ago, though rates of economic inactivity (the number of people not working, but not looking … Continue reading The return of the NEET
Youth joblessness
The UK labour market remains tight, with government now concerned about the shortage of workers pushing up inflation. Though ONS monthly figures show a marginal increase in the unemployment rate for October to December 2022 by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter, to 3.7%, the ‘economic inactivity’ rate (those not in, but not actively looking … Continue reading Youth joblessness
The looming recession, young workers and young NEETs
Rates for UK youth unemployment have been falling sharply since the end of the pandemic. At the height of Covid just over 1 in 7 (13.7%) of the 16-24 age group were recorded as jobless. This had fallen to 10.6% for the first quarter of this year. Young people were the group worst affected by … Continue reading The looming recession, young workers and young NEETs
‘Going solo’ – young people and self employment.
Often encouraged to demonstrate they are part of a new entrepreneurial culture, students and school-leavers invariably see self-employment as a route to both a high income and greater personal freedom. ONS analysis shows one in five (21%) 16- to 21-year-olds say it is likely they will be self-employed at some point in the future. In 1975, … Continue reading ‘Going solo’ – young people and self employment.
Youth unemployment falls but the NEETs remain.
UK Labour market data released this week, for Nov- Jan 2022, shows UK unemployment estimated at 3.9%, 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous three-month period, and returning to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. There are now nearly as many vacancies as there are people unemployed (1.34 million). But the UK economic inactivity rate is estimated at … Continue reading Youth unemployment falls but the NEETs remain.
UK employers look to hire school leavers as skills shortage bites (?)
An interesting piece in the Financial Times this week, arguing that employers are planning to recruit more school leavers rather than just rely on graduates. ftDownload Rather than the ‘generic’ skills that graduates have, the FT reports that employers are short of recruits with ‘specific’ skills and can’t rely on the government’s further education reforms to provide … Continue reading UK employers look to hire school leavers as skills shortage bites (?)
Leaving labour.
The latest ONS labour market data (published at the start of this week) shows unemployment falling to 4.2 per cent. Redundancies remained below pre-pandemic levels, with just 1.2 unemployed per vacancy. In other words the effects on joblessness of ending of the furlough appear limited. Having said this,the ONS says it is still possible that people made redundant were … Continue reading Leaving labour.
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