Our new report, Closing the Youth Jobs Gap, is out now
The report finds that each additional young person who becomes NEET costs the state an average of £244,000 over their lifetime. Implementing three key reforms to reduce NEET numbers, including an ‘outreach army’ of NEET young people to find and engage the estimated 300,000 ‘hidden NEETs’, would save up to £6bn for the government in the long-term, according to a new report.
The three proposed reforms are:
- Launching a major community outreach programme to identify and engage the estimated 300,000 ‘hidden NEETs’ - those not in contact with the welfare and employment support system.
- Creating a new National Data Infrastructure that can identify the real-time NEET/EET status of every young person up to the age of 24.
- Supercharging Youth Hubs as the core support model to get young people back into education, training or employment.
The report contains 14 recommendations in total, designed in consultation with experts across the employment sector, and specifically tailored to reach young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are twice as likely to be NEET and most likely to be left behind by current support.
Youth Jobs Gap: Closing the Youth Jobs Gap is the eleventh report of a groundbreaking research series investigating the link between education and employment outcomes.
Working with the National Institute for Social and Economic Research (NIESR), and sponsored by Ares Charitable Foundation, Impetus analysed the government’s Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset for this report, alongside desk-based research and insight gathered through a series of expert roundtables. The roundtables brought together policy and delivery experts working across the system, including members of Impetus’ portfolio, to test our emerging findings against the realities of on-the-ground delivery. Their contributions have shaped the analysis and recommendations throughout, ensuring the report is grounded not only in the evidence base but in the practical experience of those supporting young people into education, employment and training.
Previous research findings
The first ten research briefings in our Youth Jobs Gap series revealed findings with important implications for delivery organisations, funders and policymakers.
These findings included:
- Young people with better qualifications are much less likely to be NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training)
- Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are 50% more likely to be NEET than their similarly qualified but better-off peers
- The variation between different local authorities within a region are much bigger than the variation between different regions
- Three quarters of NEET young people have been NEET for at least 12 months
- Young people who are from low socio-economic backgrounds, who have low qualifications and also have SEND are almost three times more likely to be not in education, training or employment (NEET) than the average.
- LEO data enables us to effectively measure the success of interventions
Read our previous reports below:
