Changing trends in youth worklessness

A recent report published by the Resolution Foundation in June 2022 highlights the changing trends in youth worklessness from the 1990s. Key findings from the report highlight that while there has been a fall in worklessness amongst young people between 1995 and 2021, the makeup of those young people who are workless has changed. This presents an opportunity to revise assumptions about the types of young people who are workless and the reasons behind their worklessness. Understanding the composition of young people who are workless is vital for considering future policy to help young people into employment.

Positive Trends

The report recognises positive changes to youth worklessness since 1995.

• The share of young people who are workless (outside of full-time education) has dropped 7%, from 22% in 1995 to 15% in 2021.
• Young women have driven this drop in youth worklessness. The number of workless women had fallen by 2740,000, a 74% drop, during this time.
• The biggest drops in youth worklessness has been amongst women from Black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups.

Gender Differences

However, the report highlights that whilst workless amongst young women has fallen significantly this was not the case for young men.

• Since 2020 young men have been more likely to be workless than young women.
• The number of workless young men had fallen by only 18,000, a 4% drop, between 1995 and 2021.
• The proportion of workless young men who are workless for more than a year has increased from 56 per cent in 1995 to 70 per cent in 2021.
• Between 1995-2021 the proportion of young women who were economically inactive has halved, for men over the same period it has doubled.

These changes in the makeup of young people who are workless are important to note. The report explores the changing relationship between young women and work, identifying falling birth rates amongst young women since 1995 as a contributing factor to the falling proportion of young women out of work, coupled with the growth of young mothers joining the workforce. Consequently, it is no longer the case that young women out of work tend to be economically inactive whilst young men out of work tend to be unemployed.

• The number of young women who are economically inactive in order to look after family has fallen 78% between 2006 and 2021.
• Between 1996 and 2021, economic inactivity among young women with children has fallen by 22%, from 61% to 39%.

Changes in economic inactivity

The report explores the changing makeup of young people who are economically inactive – not in education, employment or training and not actively looking for work. Inactivity is an important consideration when exploring worklessness, the report highlights the long term scarring effects of economic inactivity; young people who experience a longer young people who experience a longer duration of unemployment are at a greater risk of future unemployment than young people who experience short-term unemployment. Only 20% of young people who are economically inactive move on to work or study within a year, compared to 43% amongst young people who are unemployed.

The report found that reasons for economic inactivity among young people had changed since 1995. Long-term sickness and disability as a reason for economic inactivity has doubled for young men since 1995. In 2021 longer term disability and sickness was the most common reason given by men for their economic inactivity (59%).

Mental health issues were also reported to have emerged as a growing contributory factor for economic inactivity due to long-term sickness and disability. Mental health problems as the main health problem leading to economic inactivity has risen by 103% for young men and 84% for young women since 2006. Furthermore, 65% of those aged 18-29 who are economically inactive due to sickness or disability also report a common mental disorder.

The report also found that those who are inactive due to sickness or disability are not only more likely to have a mental health problem, but their mental health problems also tend to be worse than other groups of inactive people. Young people with mental health problems are also more likely to stay workless for longer.

Report Recommendations

• Policy makers should focus on ‘hard-to-reach’ young people to help them engage with the JCP
• Policy makers should invest in employment support for young people who are workless.
• Government should prioritise those who are economically inactive and face barriers to employment such as mental health problems.
• Policy makers should learn from the successes of integrating employment support with psychological support, such as the Employment Advisers in IAPT and Individual Placement Support services.
• Policy makers should ensure that young people out of work have an adequate level of income through the social security system.
• Policy makers should focus on improving the quality of work for young people. Young people in insecure work have higher rates of mental health problems.

Youth Employment UK’s Response

Youth Employment UK welcomes this report and supports the recommendations made. The findings of this report present significant challenges to youth employment in the UK and mirror our findings from work with our Youth Ambassadors and the Youth Voice Census.

In our 2021 Youth Voice Census we found that mental health was a key concern among young people.

• 56.2% of young people stated that coronavirus had impacted their mental health ‘A Lot’ or ‘A Great Deal
• 55.6% of those who received free school meals stated that their mental health had been impacted ‘A Great Deal’ compared to 25% of those who did not receive free school meals.
• 28.8% of young people ‘Disagree’ or ‘Strongly Disagree’ that they can access mental health support locally.
• 32% identified mental health challenges as a barrier to employment when looking for work.

The long term impacts of growing mental health problems among young people are yet to be felt. However, this report highlights the potential issues ahead for young people transitioning from education into work post covid-19 and in the current economic climate with a rising cost of living.