1. Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training - NEET

2. How many young people are NEET in Wales? From 1997 to 2005 the proportion of young people NEET has fluctuated between 10 -12%.

3. Gender and age of young people NEET The chart shows that there are more young men NEET than young women and that the number of 17 and 18 year olds NEET is higher than the number of 16 year olds.

4. Behaviour, ‘characteristics’ and circumstances of young people NEET 32% of young people in the NEET cohort have no qualifications in comparison with only 7% of the non-NEET population.

5. 7 out of 10 are actively seeking work while nearly half of the inactive are sick or disabled or have family/caring responsibilities. NEET young people by activity status NEET 16-18 Unemployed 57% 6 months + 29% 6 months – 71% Inactive 43% Other 55% Sick/Disabled 19% Family/Home 26%

6. Of those that were NEET in 2006, 51% remained NEET in 2007 and 49% moved onto employment or full-time education. Of those that remained NEET there is a fairly even split between unemployment and inactivity. Understanding the rate of NEET ‘churn’ Of those young people NEET in 2006 Remained NEET in 2007Moved out of NEET in 2007 51%49% UnemployedInactiveInto Employment Into Education 26%25%27%22%

7. NEET young people are likely to have a history of not attending school and to report higher rates of truancy during Years 10 and 11 (15.4%) than young people in general (3.3%). Young people NEET are over three times more likely to have been excluded from school than young people overall. Young people NEET are up to eight times more likely to have a statement of special educational needs (SEN) and up fourteen times more likely to have school action plus status. NEET young people are more likely to have no or low qualification levels. 32% of young people in the NEET cohort have no qualifications in comparison with only 7% of the non-NEET population. Behaviour, ‘characteristics’ and circumstances of young people NEET

8. Young people NEET are likely to come from workless backgrounds. Around one in four of all young people are from workless households compared to over half of young people in the NEET group. It is possible to identify NEET ‘hot-spots’ at a unitary authority level in Wales and these are closely linked to areas suffering from high levels of inactivity and unemployment amongst the older adult population. Behaviour, ‘characteristics’ and circumstances of young people NEET contd…

9. 1.Core NEET – those with social and behavioural problems or other more complex needs including those who come from families where worklessness and unemployment is an accepted norm. 2. Floating or ‘at-risk’ NEET – young people who lack direction, motivation and tend to have spells of being NEET in between attending school or further education courses or low wage, low skill employment with little or no training opportunities. 3. Transition/gap year NEET – those young people who have chosen to take time out before progressing onto further or higher education opportunities and are likely to return to education, training or employment, but it is not always clear when this will occur. High level categorisation of NEET

10. Learning Country: Vision into Action target to reduce the proportion of 16-18 year olds NEET to 7% by 2010. The NEET consultation document: oFocus primarily on young people aged 16-18 oFocus on DCELLS’ work with some cross-departmental actions oComplement 14-19 Learning Pathways draft Measure and the Skills and Employment Strategy oHelp to direct resource from the new European funding programmes Delivering Skills that Work for Wales – Reducing the Proportion of Young People NEET

11. oWhat’s in a name? – an analysis of young people NEET in Wales. oGetting the systems right – Keeping in Touch processes for early identification, engagement, assessment and referral. Improving local data collection. oGetting the provision right – 14-19 Learning Pathways for all, fresh look at Skill Build type provision, training for employed young people. oGetting the support right – Learning coaches and personal support, Careers advice and guidance, financial barriers and incentives.