Young people feel excluded from labour market

A significant percentage of young people feel excluded from the labour market, according to a recent report by the City & Guilds Foundation skills development organisation.

This reveals the extent of inequalities for young people in today’s UK job market and how early disadvantage, such as childhood poverty, significantly impacts their ability to work.

The study, Youth misspent, found that from a survey of 5,000 18- to 24-year-olds, a shocking 16% are currently not in employment or education.

Of those out of work, 38% have received free school meals at some stage during their education, 19% have been a young carer, 14% have been unable to work or study due to mental or physical ill health, and 10% have been in the care system. Of those currently studying or out of work, almost one in 10 say they never intend to start working.

The study also highlights gender inequality at the earliest stages of working life, with a clear disparity between young men and women in the jobs they are opting to do and their current and future earning potential.

City and Guilds CEO, Kirstie Donnelly, said that “the current system is baking in inequality and preventing millions of young people from meeting their potential”.

She stressed that “if we don’t fix this now, we risk storing up more problems for generations to come, exacerbating productivity shortfalls and social inequalities in the long term”.