Why are young people more vulnerable to unemployment?

NEETs are representing over 60% of unemployed youths in Britain.

Recent news and official statistics on youth unemployment in the UK seem to be portraying a steady recovery from the aftermath of the Eurozone crisis. The latest report by the UK parliament, which has been released early in November, outlined a constant decline in youth unemployment rate that “the unemployment rate for 16-24 year old was 16.2%, down 4.9 percentage points from the previous year” (Davies, 2014: 1). In response to the recovery, Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Britain’s progress in economic condition and was quoted as saying “another significant fall in unemployment is a sign out long-term economic plan is working, providing security and chances for hard-working people” (BBC, 2014). However, it may require more attention to a serious gap between the circumstances of youth and overall unemployment since youth unemployment rate is considerably higher than that of adult workers. Indeed, the legislators and policy makers in Britain are also expressing grave concern over the high rate of youth unemployment that “persistent and growing youth unemployment is recognised as a problem with long-term risks. Apart from the time spent in lower wage employment in youth can have longer term effects such as wage scarring that can persist long into adult life, as well as wider societal problems” (Potton, 2010: 1) 

According to Sue Maguire, a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Education and Industry University of Warwick, the problem of youth unemployment is very probably due to the significant increase of NEET population, which currently represents over 60% of unemployed young people (Maguire, 2014: 196-201 & Davies, 2014: 3). Therefore, it can be argued that the detailed analysis of Britain’s NEET phenomenon may elucidate the problem of youth unemployment as a whole. This essay will attempt to explore why are young people more vulnerable to unemployment by focusing on the issues of NEET in contemporary British society. A brief definition and introduction to the current status of youth unemployment in the UK and the term NEET will be given, followed by an analysis of the recent researches and statistics on youth unemployment. It will be concluded that one of the possible solutions for youth unemployment is the reinforcement of apprenticeships programme, which gives jobless young people more appropriate and practical work experience and skills. 

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), youth unemployment is defined as the number of unemployed youth (normally aged 15 to 24) divided by the entire youth workforce, which includes both employed and unemployed young people (ILO, 2011). Although there is a slight difference in the measurement method of youth unemployment from country to country, the social phenomenon of youth unemployment can commonly be observed all over the world, particularly in Europe, where many countries in Europe are still suffering from the serious financial ramification of the Eurozone crisis. Youth unemployment rate in Spain and Greece, for example, are constantly hitting over 55% since the European financial crisis, according to the latest report from Eurostat (Eurostat, 2013). Although it can be argued that the current situation of youth unemployment in the UK is relatively lower than most of the other countries in Europe, when it comes to the actual figure of the phenomenon, it is still problematic for the British economy. Currently, there are approximately 737,000 unemployed young people exist in the UK, which is almost equivalent to the entire population of the city of Leeds (Davies, 2014:1). However, it is also true that the UK is one of the rare countries in Europe, which has successfully reduced the number of unemployed young people since the European crisis. As mentioned above, youth unemployment in the UK has reduced by 39,000 from 1st July to 30th September this year and has been decreased 244,000 in total compared to last year (Davies, 2014: 1). This considerable decline in youth unemployment in the UK might be due to the effect of apprenticeships programme, which is facilitated by the government. According to James Mirza-Davies, an economist and statistical researcher at House of Commons, the system of “apprenticeships are paid jobs that incorporate on and off the job training” (Davies, 2014: 9). It can be said that apprenticeships programme can possibly be compared to a publicly funded job training scheme, however, one of the core feature of the programme is that “successful apprentices receive a nationally recognised qualification on completion of their contract”, which means the programme is not just government funded but also it gives young people an officially authorised qualification (Davies, 2014: 9). In order to facilitate local employers to hire young people as their apprentices the government proposed the financial grant of up to 1,500GBP, which is “available to all employers with less than 1,000 employees that take on young apprentices” (Davies, 2014: 9). These active state interventions on youth unemployment have resulted in almost 5% of decrease in youth unemployment in a year. However, in addition to general apprenticeships programme, the government has also introduced the system of Access to Apprenticeships, which is an entry level job training scheme specifically designed for the young people called NEET (Davies: 2014 9). One of the most persuasive explanations why the government has additionally established Access to Apprenticeships programme is the strong correlation between the high ratios of NEETs among unemployed youth people. 

NEET is the abbreviation for the term “not in education, employment, or training”. According to Cambridge dictionaries online, the term NEET means, “a young person who is no longer in school and does not have a job or is not training to do a job” (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2014). For instance, school leavers and unemployed graduates can be categorised into this group. The latest report on NEET, which has been released in August 2014 by the Department of Education, vividly delineated the seriousness of the NEET problem that, according to the report, from April to June 2014, more than 13 out of 100 young people aged between 16 and 24 were in the condition of NEET (Roberts, 2014: 3). The report concluded that although the proportion of NEET population is steadily decreasing from 2012 that the NEET rate in 2012 was 16.3% and it dropped to 13.6% in a year later, still tens of thousands of young people are not employment and not even in training or learning (Roberts, 2014:3). Interestingly, however, the rate of youth unemployment in the UK (16.2%) and the rate of NEET population in the UK (13.6%) are almost at the same level. Indeed, as stated by Davies, approximately 61% of unemployed young people in the UK are NEETs at the same time (Davies, 2014: 3). In addition, Sue Maguire argued that, “despite an increase in the proportion of 16-to-18-year-olds participating in full-time education, a persistent minority remains NEET (Maguire, 2014: 200). There are many young people who failed to commence their university or high school level degree and decided to drop out from the school. These people are confronting with numerous difficulties when they try to get a job, however, one of the most important features of NEETs is, they don’t even try to get a job or to be prepared to get a job. One of the persuasive explanations for NEETs’ lack of motivation can be the rising trend of credentialism. According to Macionis, the term credentialism is one of the social values, which “people evaluate a person on the basis of educational qualifications” (Macionis, 2012: 716). Especially in job market, employers are focusing on applicants’ educational capabilities, which they assume that can be directly transferred to job skills. It can be argued that the strong reliance on credentialism has pressured certain young people who could not perform well in academic training. Due to credentialism and increasing rate of university enrollment, young people who dropped out from schools are finding utmost difficulties to get a job. Therefore, Apprenticeships programme can be an ideal solution for NEETs to participate in a society as a worker since the programme is officially recognised as an equivalent to a college qualification. By reinforcing the system of Apprenticeships programme, it may become easier for NEETs to find a job and re-participate in a society. It is assumed that one of the most important causes of youth unemployment among NEETs is the severe lack of practical job training opportunities. Therefore, by giving them more opportunities, it may be possible to solve the problem of youth unemployment. 

In conclusion, although youth unemployment rate in the UK is relatively lower than most of the other European countries, still tens of thousands of young people are finding difficulties to get a job. Recent researches on youth unemployment revealed that more than 60% of unemployed young people are in the group called NEET, who are not employed or in training or education. Since society started to rely heavily on academic performance, NEETs are hugely disadvantaged since they are mostly dropped out from schools. In order to help NEETs to get a job and to give them more job opportunities, one of the possible solutions can be the reinforcement of Apprenticeships programme, which is currently organised and funded by the government. Since the people who completed the programme will be awarded an official qualification for their skills, it can be assumed that the programme will effectively help unemployed young people to get a job that may result in a significant reduce in youth unemployment.