Latest policy insights on youth employment from Youth Employment UK CEO Laura-Jane Rawlings MBE and Deputy CEO Lauren Mistry.
This week the ONS released the latest labour market overview which began to show worrying trends in labour market participation. Employment rates have fallen slightly across all ages, with unemployment figures rising. Once again the biggest rise was seen in the number of people economically inactive, which means that they are not looking for or not available to work.
Whilst we see both economic inactivity and unemployment rates rising for young people, economic inactivity is rightly a big concern. Typically, those classed as unemployed are usually in some form of employment support system and actively seeking or being supported to seek employment. Whereas those who are economically inactive are not available and often not getting support to engage with the labour market and are inevitably harder to reach with targeted support.
For young people being out of work for any period has a negative impact on them, but data shows that for young people who are out of education, employment or training for 6 months or more will see their lifetime earnings affected as well as their overall levels of productivity and wellbeing.
There are many reasons why young people become economically inactive, one of the biggest causes right now is the growing number of young people with an identified mental health disorder. In the 2023 Youth Voice Census we heard clearly that mental health challenges such as anxiety or depression were holding young people back from active labour market participation.
What does this mean for employers?
There are 2 things employers should consider about economically inactive young people:
- how they can reach this important group
- how they can ensure that their workplace is ready and supportive for these young people.
It is going to be crucial that employers can engage with this growing economically inactive group to achieve future workforce and skills demands. As the number of people available in the labour market decreases, employers will need to take more active steps to ensure that they are developing future talent pipelines. Rethinking early careers engagement activities and what our Good Youth Employment practice calls “Explore” activities to build connections and engagements.
It is important to recognise that often these young people who have barriers to participation also have a lot to give to the right employer. Building an environment where there is support and understanding combined with high-quality early career programmes is imperative for young people to take the step into work and really flourish through their employment journey. The 2023 Youth Voice Census highlighted how young people in apprenticeships were some of the happiest in any form of education, employment or training.
At Youth Employment UK it is core to our mission to help employers understand the complexities of the youth employment challenge facing young people and help them to use our knowledge and expertise and that of our Membership to develop high quality early careers opportunities for young people. When this happens the return on investment is significant and hugely rewarding for all involved.
