Paul Convery Director, Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion Learning, skills and crime reduction

Contradictions for young people Aspiration to maturity at earlier ages –“adult” lifestyle pressure –exposure to risky behaviour Achieving economic independence later –extended educational participation –later entry into labour market

Confusions for young people Labour market complexity –more demanding employer requirements –less tenure and diminished security Weakened family and community support –atypical family structures –weakened community and informal networks –family formation undermined by non- employment

s outside employment, training and education (LFS)

“NEET” characteristics

“NEET” characteristics Classed as “ILO” unemployed 75% of young men 52%, of young women (but a further 25% looking after family) Nearly 35,000 (18%) have a disability or health condition (21% of young men but only 14% of young women)

Skills polarisation No qualifications down from 25% (1992) to 13% (1999) 45% of workforce now have NVQ3+ (was 33% in 1992) – but no increase in those qualified to level 3 about 30% are significantly over-educated skilled people get even more trained: –20% of degree qualified workers regularly receive employer funded training –compared with only 8% of those qualified to VQ2 and 3% with no formal qualifications

Wage premiums Literacy - achievement at NVQ level % Numeracy - achievement at NVQ level % GCSEs - 21% over non-qualified A levels - 17% over GCSEs With a degree - 28% over A levels Graduates - 66% over non qualified –Level 3 is threshold above which earnings exceed national average –unskilled earn 30% less than national average Women aged premium of degree holders over level 3 is 110% - highest in the OECD

Employment rates

Attributes of the new affluency Proportion of jobs requiring degrees risen at almost 1 percentage point each year Upward trend in requirement for generic skills: computing, writing, problem-solving and professional communication skills Extent and complexity of computer use rising: "fairly important, very important or essential" in two thirds of jobs - increasing by nearly 3 percentage points a year Internet use: "fairly important, very important or essential" for more than 1 in 3 workers.

Skill gap characteristics Basic computing skills Advanced IT skills Management skills Other technical and practical skills Communication skills Customer handling Team working Problem solving Literacy and numeracy (reported by 25% of lower/manual skill workplaces)

Main occupations with skill- shortage vacancies craft and skilled trades (22% of the total); associate professional occupations (17%); sales occupations (13%); personal service occupations (11%). Main industries with skill-shortage vacancies: –craft-intensive construction (12% of the total) and manufacturing sectors (16%); and –two large service industries - finance (17%) and wholesale/retail (17%).

What needs to change? Better delivery system Partnership and collaboration Learning from practice Measurement of success

Internet