Will Labour’s vocational reform plans help the ‘forgotten 50%’ make the move into work?
As part of our Missing Million programme on youth unemployment, we have identified how labour market change has made it increasingly difficult for young people to get an initial foothold in the labour market, particularly for those with low education levels. Ed Miliband’s keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference today (2 Oct) echoed this theme when he highlighted the challenges faced by the “forgotten 50 %” who don’t go to university, and what the Labour Party would do to help them.

Katy Jones
02 October 2012

Lost in Transition? The changing labour market and young people not in employment, education or training
The large numbers of young people who are NEET- not in employment, education or training- is a serious social and economic problem. The latest NEET figures released today show that there are still huge numbers of young people struggling to get into the labour market. The 2012 quarter 1 figures are the highest first quarter figures since the start of the recession. Around one million young people in England are NEET – that’s almost one in every six 16-24 year olds. Our new report ‘Lost in Transition: The changing labour market and young people not in employment, education or training’ considers the changing economy and characteristics of the NEET group and how this has impacted on the ability of young people to make successful transitions from school to work.

24 May 2012