Responding to the Government's announcement on expanding opportunities through the Youth Guarantee on Sunday 7 December, Dr Emily Andrews, L&W's Director of Policy and Research, said:
With nearly one million young people neither earning nor learning, we welcome today's announcements to tackle the current waste of potential and boost our future workforce. Building on our long-standing call for a Youth Guarantee, we are pleased to see a more comprehensive offer developing, with a range of new opportunities for young people to access experience and training in the workplace. Crucially, the national system-level offer is being balanced by more place-based approaches, including Trailblazers and the continued expansion of youth hubs to reach young people outside the benefits system. We will continue to work with partners on the delivery and implementation of this package at a national, regional and local level, to make the most of these opportunities.
These numbers also mask substantial inequalities within construction. Women account for only 10 per cent of starts in construction apprenticeships so far this year, compared to 51 per cent of apprenticeships overall. In addition, this year only 9 per cent of construction starts are by individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds, with particularly big disparities for apprentices from black or Asian backgrounds.
The following years therefore present a unique opportunity to not only further boost apprenticeship numbers in the construction sector, but to expand their reach to wider groups. The new Government should work with employers and providers to seize this.
Contact
For more information and to arrange to speak to a spokesperson, contact our Press Team.
Following the Government’s commitment to introducing a Youth Guarantee in England, something we first called for five years ago, L&W pursued a new programme of work.
For nearly 30 years, the Adult Participation in Learning Survey has provided a unique insight into adult learning across the UK. It adopts a deliberately broad definition of learning. Discover our findings from 2025.
This report, commissioned by Youth Futures Foundation and delivered by Learning and Work Institute, sets out the challenges and opportunities in young people’s interactions with the benefits system.