New research has revealed a critical disconnect between the number of England’s young people who are ‘NEET’ and the number who receive employment support services. More than 800,000 of England’s 16–24-year-olds are currently neither learning nor earning, while only 250,000 young people on benefits receive regular support from a work coach to find work each year.
Learning and Work Institute (L&W) has found that 1 in 5 young people who are neither earning nor learning have been assessed as too ill to work. These young people claim Universal Credit (UC), which would ordinarily open the door to employment support via the jobcentre. Yet while many would consider roles that fitted with their condition now or in the future, their assessment given to them means they are rarely offered support to move towards getting a job or to gaining skills or qualifications.
A further 1 in 2 young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are not claiming benefits at all. Some young people are ineligible to claim UC and many may be able to move into work or training without additional support. But with this group effectively ‘off the grid’, there is no systematic way of reaching these young people and determining what kind of help they might need to find an education place or enter the labour market.
With the Government seeking to bring down England’s overall NEET numbers, still at 800,000, these findings pose a conundrum. The Government has launched eight ‘Youth Guarantee Trailblazers’, led by Mayoral Combined Authorities, which provide 18-21 year-olds with support to enter education, training, or employment. It has also committed to a Youth Guarantee for England, which will build on the learning from the Trailblazers, as part of a broader plan to Get Britain Working that also includes Jobcentre Plus reform.
L&W contends today that successful implementation of both the Trailblazers and the Youth Guarantee requires urgent action to improve accessibility, transparency, and trust in the benefit system that underpins the guarantee, and in employment and skills support for young people. Engaging and offering more young people help to find a job or improve their skills – via the benefit system or otherwise – will be an essential investment in the country’s future workforce as the Government aims for an ambitious 80% employment rate.
L&W’s findings show that many young people are deterred from engaging with Jobcentre Plus or from claiming benefits because of the associated stigma, and the perception of a system focused more on compliance than support.
The research also identifies that just under half (230,000) of young people who claim UC and are out of work are not required to look for work. This means they have relatively little contact with Jobcentre Plus work coaches or wider offers of support, even if they are interested in work or learning.
L&W asserts that nationwide rollout of the Youth Guarantee needs to provide universal support while also considering that where young people live matters: more than one in five young people in Blackpool and Hartlepool claim UC, with almost half of these young benefits claimants assessed as too ill to work. These rates are seven times higher than the local authorities with the lowest UC claimant rates among young people. This gap has widened since the pandemic, with the proportion of young people judged too ill to work doubling in the areas with the highest UC health claim rates. Several Youth Guarantee Trailblazers are piloting integration of local services to reach disengaged young people, and which will provide useful insights into whether these innovative, local approaches can be applied elsewhere.
Part of L&W’s wider work informing the rollout of the Youth Guarantee, this latest research is supported by Youth Futures Foundation, the national What Works Centre for youth employment.