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Neet current stats uk overall and scotland

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Neet current stats uk overall and scotland

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Research finding on young people in poverty/failures of employability programmes/socio economic structure

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Research finding on young people in poverty/failures of employability programmes/socio economic structure

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Government finding of youth employability programme

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Government finding of youth employability programme

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Areas to consider
Precarious job market
Rights and responsibilities
Social structures / individualised problem
Bounded agency
Social mobility
Myth of meritoracy / many young people believe in it but also recgonise stigmatisation of being NEET/tension for worker here
Link between capitalism, precariousness, alienation and mental health levels soaring

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Employment, Social security + conditionality

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Employment, Social security + conditionality

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Low-wage jobs tend to have limited demand for skills and opportunities for progression. This affects wages and also the wider quality of work.

Locally, weak demand for skills can result in a low-skills equilibrium - where the labour market is characterised by low demand for skills from employers but also limited availability of skills among the workforce. It can also result in the under-utilisation of skills, where the local population have higher skill levels than employers require.

In England, the dominant approach has been to focus on the supply of skills. Many other countries have been more proactive in trying to influence demand for skills among employers.

There are currently attempts to devolve some power and funding for skills to employers and to local areas. An example of this is the Sheffield City Deal which has involved the devolution of some central funding. The aim is to support a local delivery model to involve smaller firms and ensure people have skills to match employer demand.

Policy needs to address both supply and demand for skills. The most successful local economies are those with a skilled workforce and competitive firms which make good use of these assets.

Background
The UK has a relatively large proportion of low-wage jobs, often characterised by their limited demand for skills and lack of opportunities for progression. Weak demand for skills has implications for both individuals and local economies. For individuals, it affects the quality of work, wages, and their ability to develop their skills and move on to a better job. Research has shown the importance of job quality in better protecting workers from poverty. Local economies with weak demand for skills tend to have more low-skill/low-wage firms that compete primarily on cost rather than quality.

Yet policy in England under successive governments has largely focused on the supply of skills, and been geared towards increasing and improving individuals' skills. Much less attention has been paid to employer demand for skills, and to improving how skills are used within the workplace. This research assesses evidence of how local skills strategies might help to increase demand for skills. It also examines the experience of developing a local skills approach under the Sheffield City Deal - a scheme which represents the largest devolution of skills funding to a UK city so far.
How can local skills strategies encourage increasing demand for skills?
Where local labour markets are weak, shaping demand for skills should be an important policy aim. This is about more than simply ensuring people have the skills that businesses need. This study reviews the literature and identifies how local skills strategies can help to increase demand for skills and improve outcomes for low earners. There are a number of important findings:

Increasing employer demand for skills in low-wage sectors is often about 'incremental innovation' - gradual improvements to processes, goods and services. Low-wage sectors are often labour intensive, and skills, management and working practices are likely to be important drivers of productivity improvements. Strategies include producing higher value, customised goods or services.

Linking skills strategies with wider economic development and business support policies, locally or regionally, can help shape firms' demand for skills.

Local skills strategies can support employers to develop structured progression programmes, such as career ladder schemes, for low earners. These promote career advancement by linking training for low-wage workers with structured progression within their firm, sector or local area.

Engaging employers and other stakeholders such as trades unions and training providers is important when designing and delivering skills policy

Opportunities in the current policy landscape
Skills policy in England has tended to focus largely on increasing and improving the skills of individuals. However, recent changes may help develop approaches to target improvements on the demand side as well. Policy-makers are moving towards some greater devolution of responsibility for skills and budgets to local areas and employers. This is shown by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) playing a strategic role in skills policy and by the devolution of some central government skills funding to Sheffield as part of its City Deal. Businesses are also being offered a greater opportunity to shape skills through the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot schemes being run by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

However, significant challenges remain around increasing employer demand for skills. The resources available for skills policy have been reduced. Perhaps even more importantly, there appears to be relatively little appetite among the important local stakeholders, such as LEPs, for policy that aims to shape demand.
Learning from the Sheffield City Deal
Sheffield City Region was one of the first to agree a City Deal, part of which was focused on skills. This secured an additional £4 million in funding, with a further £23.8 million of adult skills and apprenticeships budgets channelled from central government departments. Locally there was £6-12 million of local authority funding and a minimum of £37.5 million of employer investment. A core aim of the City Deal's skills element is creating a 'demand-led skills system'. The skills package has two main aims, to be achieved over a three-year period:

to create an additional 4,000 apprenticeships;

to train 2,000 current employees with the skills needed by businesses locally.

The adult skills part of the programme is delivered through a group of intermediaries and providers. The intermediaries are responsible for making contact with employers, discussing the programme and working with them to identify skills gaps or training needs. The programme is targeted at small and medium enterprises, and tries to engage those who have not previously, or do not normally, use publicly-funded training provision. While it is too early to assess the impact of the programme, the development and implementation raises a number of important issues. These include:

How to diagnose and respond to the main skills issues in the area, and in specific local sectors. The City Deal is employer-led, with skills provision mainly targeted at skills gaps that employers might have. It does not try to influence overall demand for skills. However, it is not apparent that the main issue in some of the programme's priority sectors - in particular in care, hospitality and retail - is skill gaps. In these sectors it is more common for existing skills to be under-used, and for there to be limited opportunities for progression. Solutions to address these issues are missing from the programme. A good understanding of the main skills needs in different sectors is therefore an essential part of an effective skills strategy.

How to balance support for high-value versus high-employment sectors. The programme highlights tensions between how to support high-value versus high-employment sectors, both of which are important for local economies. In Sheffield's plans, scope for incremental innovation in high-employment sectors is less evident than meeting skills gaps in high-value sectors such as advanced manufacturing.

How to target provision. Offering support to all firms may not be the best way to use resources. It could be that targeting growing firms, firms with potential for growth, or firms creating 'good jobs' is a better approach.

How best to integrate local services and strategies. Currently, one weakness of the programme is that it is poorly integrated with other areas of policy such as economic development, innovation and business support.

The best way to involve employers. The programme works through an innovative delivery model using intermediary organisations which are responsible for involving employers. However, it also highlights the difficulties faced by trying to engage lots of smaller employers. It will be important to monitor the effectiveness of the approach.

Conclusion
The challenge for policy-makers is not just about helping local economies increase the number of people in employment, but also ensuring that workers are in jobs where they can use their skills and have opportunities for progression. Part of the solution is developing policies to support increasing employer demand for skills. Currently, however, there is limited scope or appetite to innovate around skills policy in England.

The research identifies a number of areas where policy-makers and stakeholders should focus. Cities and LEPs in areas with weak demand for skills should seek to better integrate skills and economic development policies, and help to link firms to wider support to develop their business, management and leadership and use of workforce skills. This should include a focus on incremental innovation in sectors with large numbers of lower-wage jobs.

They should also maximise the role of larger public sector employers as examples of good practice and use their influence to cascade this good practice through their local supply chains. LEPs can also play an important role in encouraging businesses to learn from each other through peer-to-peer networks. Finally, LEPs and other local organisations should develop policies, such as career ladders, to directly link better skills to improved opportunities for progression for low-wage workers.
About the project
This research is by Paul Sissons and Katy Jones at The Work Foundation. The paper reviews the international evidence on low-wage work and employer demand for skills. It also examines the current policy context around skills in England and provides a case study of Sheffield's City Deal.

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How can local skills strategies help low earners?

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Low-wage jobs tend to have limited demand for skills and opportunities for progression. This affects wages and also the wider quality of work. Locally, weak demand for skills can result in a low-skills equilibrium - where the labour market is characterised by low demand for skills from employers but also limited availability of skills among the workforce.

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Today the Office for National Statistics has published data on NEETs - young people not in employment, education or training. This follows David Cameron's announcement last week that if the Conservatives win the next election, 18-21 year-olds out of employment, education or training for six months will have to enrol in voluntary work to claim unemployment benefit.

But sanctions on young people are not in themselves a solution to the UK's skills and unemployment problem. Unless training opportunities allow young people to gain skills that match the needs of employers in the local labour market, and are targeted at those who need them most, it may not help them to get and stay in work.

While greater opportunities for young people to gain skills must be welcomed, the evidence suggests that enforcing compulsory work experience has serious limitations. Recent evaluation of a DWP pilot of a similar scheme uncovered major flaws. Although those who completed the placements had some positive experiences, only half actually started placements, and of those more than half (56 per cent) failed to complete the full placement. The evaluation also highlighted a lack of diversity of placements (58 per cent were in charity shops) and nearly half of the participants felt their placements were not tailored to their strengths or future aspirations.

Some evidence suggests attaching greater sanctions to benefits may have initially positive effects on reducing benefit claimant numbers and getting people into short-term jobs. Crucially, though, long-term outcomes for earnings, job quality and employment retention are less positive.

What works in one place may not work somewhere else - wages, job security and distribution between occupations differ vastly between cities. For example, between 2001 and 2011, one in three workers earned less than two thirds of the median wage in Hull, Grimsby and Blackburn compared to just one in ten workers in the Greater South East. Previous JRF research suggests that 16-24 year-olds are already at high risk of experiencing poverty, and the proposed reforms pose a very real risk that vulnerable individuals who need help are pushed out of the system altogether.

Investing in local skills infrastructure and allowing local authorities and city regions greater control over skills budgets could be an alternative solution to dealing with youth unemployment. This can help ensure the skills gained by the workforce meet the demands of local employers and can mean better long-term prospects for individuals. An example is the Leeds City Region Enterprise Advisor Pilot, which aims to encourage a more strategic approach is taken to employer engagement in schools.

City Deals can provide a platform for this localised skills provision. The Sheffield City Deal included a £23.8 million adult skills and apprenticeship budget, which was used strategically to try and create a 'demand-led system', particularly to train 2,000 employees with the skills needed by local businesses and create 4,000 more apprenticeships.

Reforms to help improve individuals' skills and prospects must be welcomed, but to truly succeed they must be both tailored to the local labour market and linked to those most in need.

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Reform for NEETs must work for those most in need

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Today the Office for National Statistics has published data on NEETs - young people not in employment, education or training. This follows David Cameron's announcement last week that if the Conservatives win the next election, 18-21 year-olds out of employment, education or training for six months will have to enrol in voluntary work to claim unemployment benefit.

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Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Labour Market Statistics

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nomis - official labour market statistics

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James BLoodworth - The Myth Of Meritocracy

Guy Standing - The Precariat

Wilkinson and Picket - The Spirit Level

Foucault - Discipline and Punishment

Government of disability

Robin Simmons and Ron Thompson NEET young people and training for work

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Young people out of work, education or training for six months will have to do unpaid community work to get benefits if the Conservatives win the election.

David Cameron said about 50,000 18 to 21-year-olds would be required to do daily work experience from day one of their claim, alongside job searching.

The welfare shake-up would make sure young people "don't get sucked into a life on welfare", he said in a speech.

Labour said the Tories would do nothing to get young people "real jobs".

The opposition has pledged a compulsory jobs guarantee for the young unemployed, paid for by a tax on bankers' bonuses.

The Conservatives are focusing on welfare reforms this week as they draw up battle lines before May's general election.

Their proposed community work programme will cost about £20m to deliver, paid for by "initial savings" from the delivery of universal credit.

'Order and discipline'

Those aged between 18 and 21 who have not been in employment, education or training, known as "Neets", for six months would no longer receive jobseeker's allowance (JSA).

Instead, they would be paid the youth allowance, paid at the same rate as JSA - £57.35 a week.

However, to receive it they would be required to carry out 30 hours a week of mandatory community work from the first day of claiming benefits.

This could involve making meals for older people or working for local charities, alongside 10 hours of job hunting.
Analysis, by Political Correspondent Ross Hawkins
The Conservatives insist unemployed young people must work for their benefits.

Labour has promised the same people a guaranteed job.

The tone is very different.

But refuse to work under either party - whether it's the Tories' community programme or Labour's jobs guarantee - and you will lose money.

The Conservatives would make more cuts: lowering the benefit cap, stopping many 18 to 21-year-olds claiming housing benefit and even considering docking money from obese or addicted claimants who refuse treatment.

Labour points out that its policy provides paid employment, not an obligation to community work.

But both parties would want you to hear them caring deeply about the fate of young unemployed people, while making sure no one gets something for nothing.

The policy, announced by the prime minister during a speech in Hove, East Sussex, forms part of the Conservatives' plans to eradicate long-term youth unemployment.

"That well-worn path - from the school gate, down to the jobcentre, and on to a life on benefits - has got to be rubbed away," Mr Cameron said.

He added: "What these young people need is work experience and the order and discipline of turning up for work each day.

"From day one they must play their part and make an effort. That could mean making meals for older people, cleaning up litter and graffiti, or working for local charities.

"Your first experience of the benefits system should be that yes, you can get help - but it isn't something for nothing, and you need to put something back into your community too."

The party has also pledged to cap benefits further - at £23,000 - to fund three million apprenticeships if it wins the general election in May.

Also under Tory plans, people who cannot work because they are obese or have alcohol or drug problems could have their sickness benefits cut if they refuse treatment.

'Properly paid'

Criticising the policy announcement, Labour's shadow work and pensions minister Stephen Timms said: "The proposal the prime minister has made today will do absolutely nothing to get young people into real jobs."

He said the government had piloted a scheme in London two years ago, but the official assessment found "no significant impact" on employment outcomes.

Labour, he said, offered better prospects for youngsters out of work, by guaranteeing a six-month job for unemployed youngsters, who would be "properly paid".

The opposition policy would be paid for by a bankers' bonus tax. If people did not take up the offer of the job they would lose their benefits.

Ed Miliband, the party leader, has also pledged that young unemployed people who refuse to take training courses to gain key skills could lose benefits under a Labour government.

His party would also guarantee apprenticeships for every school-leaver in England who "gets the grades" by 2020.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman criticised the Conservatives' proposals as "all stick, no carrot", saying they were designed to "punish" rather than to help people into work.

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Young people out of work, education or training for six months will have to do unpaid community work to get benefits if the Conservatives win the election. David Cameron said about 50,000 18 to 21-year-olds would be required to do daily work experience from day one of their claim, alongside job searching.

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Has key questions for considering tensions of professialism

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Depression and anxiety have risen among teenage girls in England, with more than a third reporting symptoms of distress, although the rates are stable among teenage boys, according to a major survey of 14-year-olds carried out for the Department for Education.

Among the girls, 37% reported feeling unhappy, worthless or unable to concentrate, more than twice the percentage of boys reporting such feelings, a rise since a study in 2005, which was described by the researchers as "an important and significant trend". The figure for the girls had risen by nearly four percentage points since 2005, while the figure for boys, 15%, had fallen slightly.

The rise was pronounced in young people living in single-parent households or with stepfamilies, and those with a long-standing illness or disability affecting their education. Poor sleeping patterns, including sleeping for less than the recommended amount, were reported among many of those reporting other problems, and will be followed up in later reports.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said the mental health of the young was a priority area.

"Children's mental health is a priority for this government and we know that intervening early can have a lasting impact," he said. "We are putting a record £1.4bn into transforming the dedicated mental health support available to young people across the country and are working to strengthen the links between schools and mental health services.

"We are also driving forward innovations to improve prevention and early support, by investing £1.5m on peer-support networks in schools so children feel empowered to help one another."

There was some good news in the report, which found that the teenagers were more serious than their predecessors, less likely to be play truant, more convinced of the importance of hard work, and "markedly" less prone to risky behaviour including smoking, drinking and drug-taking. In 2005, 30% admitted to drinking alcohol, but this had fallen to 12%. Reported drug-taking was also down, and truancy had fallen from 21% to 11%. There was a sharp fall - from 23% in 2005 to 16% in 2014 - in teenagers reporting that their parents had kept them out of school for reasons other than illness.

The situation outlined in the report, based on in-depth interviews with thousands of teenagers in year 10 in England, was described by Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, as "a slow-growing epidemic".

Wallace told The Times that her charity had been contacted by worried school heads. "There definitely does seem to be something happening - it's a slow- growing epidemic," she said. "Over the period covered by the report we have seen a very disturbing change in admissions to hospital for self-harm in under-16s that have gone up by 52%."

The report found the problems were more marked among both girls and boys of parents educated to degree level, which the researchers said could be partly due to peer pressure and pushy parents. There had also been "a small but statistically significant" worsening in young people's belief that they could influence their own destinies - more marked in households where at least one parent was out of work.

The researchers - who will continue to follow up the group of teenagers interviewed - said there appeared to be less stress, possibly because of lower expectations, among those from more disadvantaged social backgrounds.

"There may be some ways in which having lower social status may be associated with lower levels of expectation for school success and lower levels of associated pressure. Another possible explanation is that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds may be more resilient in the face of [stress factors] associated with a more challenging economic and school environment."
Topics

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More than third of teenage girls in England suffer depression and anxiety

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Depression and anxiety have risen among teenage girls in England, with more than a third reporting symptoms of distress, although the rates are stable among teenage boys, according to a major survey of 14-year-olds carried out for the Department for Education.