• Accessibility
• Email alerts
• RSS feeds
• Contact us

Skills for every young person Contents

---

Chapter 6: Tackling disadvantage

224.Young people from certain demographic groups and backgrounds may face barriers to work that do not affect others. They include young people disadvantaged by their financial backgrounds, those with additional needs or SEND, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, those who have been in care and those who have been involved with the criminal justice system.

225.At present, these groups often face higher rates of youth unemployment, higher rates of temporary exclusion from school, and greater likelihood of being on an insecure contract than their peers in the wider youth population. They require bespoke support to counter the challenges they face; however, they are not being targeted effectively by policymakers and gaps remain in support provided to help these young people into work. This is despite the Government’s release of £90 million (plus an additional £10 million during the COVID-19 pandemic) from dormant bank accounts to go towards activities that address disparities in youth unemployment.410

Socio-economically disadvantaged young people

226.In 2020–21, 26.4% of pupils in state-funded schools at the end of Key Stage 4 were recorded as disadvantaged.411 It is important to note that young people may be disadvantaged by a range of factors such as their gender, ethnic background or where they grew up, as well as eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM).

Figure 26: The disadvantage gap for young people

227.The Education Policy Institute estimates that the disadvantage gap between young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers by the end of their GCSEs is 18.1 months of learning.412 This gap begins to develop in a child’s early years. We heard figures showing that amongst children who have persistently experienced poverty, 75% start school below average in language development.413 At Key Stage 4, for the percentage of pupils achieving grades 5 and above in English and maths, the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils has widened from 25.2 percentage points in 2018–19 to 27.5 percentage points in 2020-21.414

228.This is important because these early disparities may manifest in inequalities later in a child’s educational attainment. We heard that each step up in qualifications halves a person’s chances of becoming NEET. Disadvantaged young people are twice as likely to be low qualified, and young people with low qualifications are twice as likely to be NEET as those with five GCSEs.415 Even when they have similar qualifications, disadvantaged young people are around 50% more likely to be NEET than their more affluent peers.416

229.We also heard that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to be well informed of the career pathways open to them.417 The Youth Voice Census found differences in the information provided to students depending on their socio-economic status. Young people on FSM were less likely to hear about doing A levels five times or more (42.3%) than their more privileged peers (52.9%).418 Patchy provision advice means young people often rely on information from informal networks. One Government survey found the most accessed source of CEIAG for 18- and 19-year-olds was friends and relatives (90%).419 This reliance on informal networks may disproportionately benefit young people from privileged backgrounds and equally may result in the provision of careers advice based on outdated views and misconceptions. The Youth Futures Foundation reported the views of a member of their Future Voices Group:

“Given most young people get their careers advice from friends and family, largely from same area, same socio-economic backgrounds, how can people meaningfully get educated and prepare themselves early on for a particular career or sector unless it’s one that people from their family/community/friends etc. are directly involved in?”.420

230.While apprenticeships are often seen as a tool of social mobility, we heard there are substantial differences in the pattern of apprentices from different socio-economic backgrounds at different levels. Only 13% of degree apprentices are from neighbourhoods in the bottom fifth of deprivation, while 27% come from the most advantaged.421 Research by the Social Mobility Commission published in June 2020 put the case that the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017 caused a decline in starts by apprenticeships from disadvantaged backgrounds.422 The evidence we heard makes clear that efforts must be made to ensure that access to apprenticeships for those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds is not cut off by what has been termed a ‘middle class grab’ on apprenticeships as they increase in popularity, whilst keeping them open and accessible to all.423

231.Disadvantaged young people have lower rates of progression to HE than their peers. In 2019/20, the progression rate for FSM pupils by age 19 was 26.6%, which represents a gap of 19.1 percentage points (the largest since 2005–06) between those who claim FSM and those who do not. Rates of progression are higher in London than in other parts of the country. The gap between independent and state-educated A Level students has decreased slightly in the last year from 9.2% to 8.9%. However, independent school students are most likely to progress to high tariff HE by the age of 19 (56.7%) compared to state educated students (24.9%).424 Sally Dicketts CBE, Chief Executive of Activate Learning, told us that “if we are not careful, university becomes the finishing school for the middle classes”.425

232.This disparity in HE attainment translates to disparities in employment outcomes. In 2020, the regions of the UK with the highest rates of employment were also the regions with the greatest proportion of people with degrees, and the lowest proportion of people without qualifications.426 Even if they are degree educated, we heard from Esther O’Callaghan OBE that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who do go to university still struggle to gain work in a market where they are competing against more privileged peers “who did not have to work while studying to support themselves and who have a family network and alumni to fall back on”.427

233.When they get to the labour market, we have heard that some sectors are considered impenetrable for young people from socio-economically deprived backgrounds. The Sutton Trust told us that in their survey of 3,400 employees in the tech industry, 21% had attended independent or fee-paying schools, and 67% came from professional or managerial backgrounds.428 Academics at the UCL Institute of Education told us:

“…there remain important inequities in the chances to access top jobs. Evidence from UK cohort and panel data suggests that career opportunities for young people are associated with area characteristics, with young people living in deprived areas most at risk of becoming NEET or dropping out of the labour market altogether”.429

234.Travel can be a barrier for disadvantaged young people. The statutory responsibility for transport for 16- to 19-year-olds rests with local authorities, which have access to funding to support free school travel for children from low-income families. They have a duty to set out arrangements to support learners undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships, including the costs of travelling to or from learning or a work placement.430 However, young people are still struggling to access work or study.

235.For example, one young person told us that he had no savings and struggled to find a job in his local area. As his family could not access benefits because they were in low-paid work, he and his siblings had to get jobs aged 16 to support the family. In his first job at university, he struggled to pay the bus fare. He was fortunate to have an employer who paid him a week’s wages up front so that he could afford this. He said lots of young people face financial barriers and struggle to find a suitable job that is accessible as a result.431 The LGA echoed these sentiments, telling us:

“The cost and complexity of travelling to post-16 places of learning can also be a barrier to young people accessing further education, particularly in rural areas and areas with limited access to public transport. As not all courses are able to be run from local colleges, supporting under 25-year-olds with transport costs is vital to maintain equitable access to further education and many councils are supporting young people with costs”.432

236.Disadvantaged young people may struggle to afford basic necessities to help them to stay in study or training. The TUC told us that many apprentices spend more money on things they need to complete their programme such as work clothes, travel and childcare, than they are paid.433

237.During the pandemic, the issue of digital exclusion came to prominence given government guidance to work and study from home. Around 1.5 million households do not have access to the internet in the UK. Among the least likely groups to have home internet access are lower income families (11% without access) and the most financially vulnerable (10%).434 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government provided devices including a total of more than 1.3 million laptops and tablets to disadvantaged young people in England, along with routers.435 Despite this, Catch22 told us that there was a need for a central strategy to ensure nobody is disadvantaged due to lack of access to a device or data.436

238.Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds reported higher levels of poor mental health, anxiety, loneliness and faced greater behavioural, emotional and attentional difficulties than their more affluent peers. Particularly vulnerable young people included children who were in care.437 While research on the impact of the pandemic on mental health is limited, increases in poor mental health are thought to reflect the indirect impacts of the pandemic.438 A young person in our evidence session with young people from ethnic minority backgrounds told us that “my mental health really went downhill for about 9 months during the pandemic because of a lack of support and career direction”.439

239.Young people from low income and other disadvantaged backgrounds face a multitude of challenges in our society. Disparities in attainment first appear in their early years and widen throughout their education. They are significantly less likely to go on to higher education and far more likely to become NEET than their peers, even when they have similar qualifications. Disadvantaged young people face barriers to work, including physical and financial barriers, a lack of financial support to purchase the necessities needed to work and study, and a lack of access to digital equipment and data needed not only to work from home when necessary, but to apply for jobs in the first place. While the Government has brought in welcome support mechanisms for these young people, we are concerned that these measures do not go far enough.

240.The Government must ensure that catch-up funding provided to schools following the pandemic is effectively targeted towards schools with a greater proportion of disadvantaged students, who are most likely to have lost out on learning during the pandemic. Effort must be made to ensure those most vulnerable have access to wraparound care to support their health and wellbeing.

241.The Government must update its statutory guidance on Post-16 transport to education and training (2019) to ensure that T Level industry placements are included within the scope of support, so that young people who live in hard-to-reach areas or who have poor transport connections have satisfactory access to work, education and training opportunities.

242.The Government must run a targeted awareness-raising campaign detailing in plain English the support available to help young people to stay in education, particularly focussing on young people studying in institutions and regions with high rates of disadvantage.

Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

243.Young people with additional needs and/or disabilities often face significant hardship both in education and in the world of work. In the UK, 8% of children are disabled as defined under the Equality Act 2010. More than half of all disabled children and young people also meet the definition of having special educational needs.440
As of January 2021, there were 430,700 children and young people with an EHC plan. The proportion of children and young people with an EHC plan in mainstream education increased from 39% in 2020 to 40% in 2021.441 Despite this, 97% of schools told the National Association of Head Teachers they received insufficient funding to support pupils with additional needs.442 The Autumn Budget 2021 committed £2.6 billion for new school places for children with SEND in England.443

244.Worryingly, during a private session in the East Midlands with organisations that work with young people, we heard some young people who were eligible for an EHC plan were not being put forward for assessment at the right time, making it more difficult for them to obtain one after they have left school.444

Figure 27: Young people with SEND face significant challenges in education

245.The disability employment gap is the difference between the employment rate of disabled people compared to those who are not disabled. During the pandemic, the gap increased to 28.8%, from 28.1%. This follows a gradual reduction over time. In 2015, the gap reached 33.6%.445 The disability employment gap is 19.6% for 18- to 24-year-olds.446 Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of the Learning and Work Institute, told us that disabled people were more likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic, and more likely to drop out of work before it.447

Figure 28: Disability employment gap between 2015 and 2020 for those aged 16 to 64 in October to December

Source: House of Commons Library, Disabled people in employment, CBP 7540 24 May 2021. NB. The latest data covering July to September 2021 shows the disability employment gap was 27.6 percentage points; see Office for National Statistics, ‘Labour market overview, UK: November 2021’: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/november2021/relateddata?page=2 [accessed 17 November 2021]

246.Leonard Cheshire told us that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing structural inequalities, “entrenching barriers to the workplace for disabled people”.448 During the pandemic, disabled people were more likely to become economically inactive or move out of employment. One in 10 (9.3%) disabled people who were in work at the end of 2019 before the pandemic were not in work at the end of 2020, compared to one in 17 (5.8%) non-disabled people. They were also more likely to see a reduction in their hours. Young people who are disabled were more likely to have moved out of employment during the pandemic. The employment rate for the 16 to 24 age group fell by 1.8 percentage points between 2019 and 2020.449

247.Even before the pandemic, a disabled person with a degree was no more likely to be in work than a non-disabled person whose highest qualification is at GCSE level.450 In 2019–20 just 8.4% of pupils with an EHC plan or SEN statement progressed to HE by the age of 19. This is compared to 47.5% for pupils with no additional needs.451 12.5% of apprenticeships started in 2020 were started by disabled people.452

248.Disability charity Leonard Cheshire told us that disabled young people may face prejudice from some employers. Its survey found that one in five employers stated they would be less likely to employ a person with a disability. This might be due to misconceptions about their capabilities or an underappreciation of disabled young people’s skills in physical or manual labour roles. Other challenges include a lack of accessible application processes and employers failing to make reasonable adjustments to make the process more amenable to those with disabilities.453 A young person at our Bolton and Lancashire engagement session told us that “there should be a greater understanding and compassion for young people with disabilities”.454

249.The Youth Voice Census found that those with additional needs were twice as likely to have never had the prospect of university discussed with them (20.1%).455 The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) noted that more tailored careers support for young people with SEND was required to give them and their parents access to networks that they might not have, as “you can’t be what you can’t see”.456

250.The Government has set a target of getting one million more disabled people into work by 2027. However, the National Audit Office reported in 2019 that “this growth in the number of disabled people in employment cannot be linked directly to any particular government policy” and is more likely “to be due to more people already in work reporting a disability rather than more disabled people who were out of work, moving into work”.457

251.The Shaw Trust noted that there were no specific interventions for disabled young people in the Plan for Jobs.458 Young disabled people can only access Kickstart if they claim UC rather than Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).459 The Government committed to increasing the number of Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) by 315 in April 2021, but this is far beneath the 13,500 work coaches recruited by the DWP.460 The Shaw Trust supported the recommendations put forward by the Youth Employment Group, which included that there should be specialist programmes for young disabled people, greater provision of DEAs in line with the increase in work coaches, and an increase in provision of Supported Internships to those who had SEND support at school, not just those with an EHC Plan.461 The Autumn Budget 2021 committed to an additional £156 million to provide job finding support for disabled people with a focus on additional work coaches.462 A young person on a Supported Internship spoke during our engagement session in Bolton and Lancashire:

“They teach us theory to do with interview skills, staying safe both in and outside of the workplace, economics etc. Then once the theory side is complete, they’re going to get us into a place of work as an intern and the course support staff are going to be going round each of the workplaces one by one to support us in our job placement. It has been a struggle for them to find companies willing to take us on due to the COVID pandemic and working from home…”.463

252.The Government has introduced a range of measures to support young people who have additional needs (see Appendix 7). These include the Access to Work Scheme and Work and Health Programme. Sue Lovelock, Director of Professional and Technical Education at the DfE, told us the Government has introduced incentives for apprentices with an EHC Plan totalling £1,000 per person, and that it had worked with SEND advisory groups on the development of T Levels.464 The Government’s National Disability Strategy, published in July 2021, outlined several measures for young disabled people. These included:

• A review of actions to improve outcomes for children with SEND;
• Investing £300m to improve provision in schools;
• Investing £8.6m to strengthen the participation of parents and young people in the SEND system;
• Improving the supported internship programme;
• Increasing the number of disabled people in apprenticeships;
• Piloting Access to Work adjustment passports with disabled young people in periods of transition;
• The creation of a new Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology; and
• Evaluating the impact of investment in traineeships on young people with SEND by July 2022.465

253.In addition to the challenges young people with additional needs may face in their everyday lives, they face greater disadvantage in the labour market than their peers without additional needs. While there are a range of mechanisms in place to support young people with additional needs, the Government’s Plan for Jobs included no targeted support for people with disabilities, despite the fact they were disproportionately more likely to be affected than their peers without additional needs.

254.The Government must explore the feasibility of offering incentive payments to employers offering supported internships, to provide parity with apprenticeships.

255.The Government must recruit more Disability Employment Advisors to provide parity with the increase in work coaches, help to meet its target of getting more disabled people into work, and support better awareness of Access to Work.

256.As part of its upcoming consultation on strengthening pathways to employment for disabled people, the Government must consider grant funding for a jobs guarantee for disabled young people—offering six months paid work and training accompanied by wraparound support—for any young person who has SEND and is newly unemployed.

257.The Government must clearly set out how it plans to monitor and publish its progress towards achieving the ambitions set out in the National Disability Strategy.

Young people from ethnic minority backgrounds

258.Many young people from ethnic minority backgrounds, particularly those from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, African and minority white groups,466 face a range of challenges accessing the labour market. Despite improvements in the unemployment gap between ethnic minority groups and their white peers (the difference in the employment rates between white and other ethnic groups combined declined by 5 percentage points between 2004 and 2019, while the pay gap is at its smallest level since 2012),467 their success in education is still not being translated into success in the labour market. Latest data show that the current unemployment rate for all ethnic minority young people is an average of 26.4%. Within this wider group, for young black people it reaches 36%, compared to 13% for young white people.468

259.Young people from ethnic minority backgrounds were already badly affected before the pandemic. The ethnic group with the highest percentage of young people in the UK who were NEET between 2017 and 2019 combined was thoe identifying as Pakistani (14.3%), followed by those identifying as Bangladeshi (12%).469 We heard that young workers from ethnic minority backgrounds were disproportionately likely to be in less secure employment types before the COVID-19 pandemic; in particular, they were 47% more likely to be on insecure contracts.470

Figure 29: Percentage of young people in the UK aged 16 to 24 who were NEET by ethnicity and gender between 2017 and 2019 (combined)

Source: Office for National Statistics, ‘Young people NEET’, (last updated 3 August 2021): https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/unemployment-and-economic-inactivity/young-people-not-in-employment-education-or-training-neet/latest#by-ethnicity [accessed 13 October 2021]

260.During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people from ethnic minority backgrounds fared significantly worse than their white peers. Research by the Institute for Employment Studies found that in the first six months of the pandemic, young people accounted for 46% of the overall fall in employment since it began, but that the fall in employment was four times higher for young black people and nearly three times higher for young Asian people.471 The situation for young black people was particularly concerning. Unemployment for black people aged 16 to 24 increased between October to December 2019 and the same point in 2020 by 17.1 percentage points (24.5% to 41.6%). This compares to an increase of just 2.3 percentage points (10.1% to 12.4%) for young white people.472

Figure 30: Increase in unemployment rates for young people by ethnic group during the COVID-19 pandemic

Source: National Audit Office, Employment Support: Department for Work and Pensions, (7 June 2021), p 14, Figure 6: https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Employment-support.pdf [accessed 10 November 2021]

261.A recent report of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee reported that “the Department (DWP) does not know why the unemployment impact of the pandemic has hit groups such as young people from minority ethnic backgrounds harder”.473 We have heard from a range of young people from these backgrounds, and groups that work with and champion them, who have outlined to us several reasons why the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing, structural and deep-seated challenges facing these communities.

262.We heard that there are high rates of poverty and widespread FSM eligibility among ethnic minority communities. The highest percentages of FSM eligibility were in white minority groups such as pupils from Traveller of Irish Heritage communities (56%), Gypsy/Roma backgrounds (39%), pupils from a Bangladeshi background (26%) and those from a Pakistani background (20%).474 The Social Metrics Commission found in 2020 that nearly half of black African Caribbean or black British households were in poverty, compared with just under one in five white families.475

263.Exclusion rates for black Caribbean students in England were far higher than those of white pupils in the 2018–2019 school year. Although the rate can be higher in some parts of the country, black Caribbean students were excluded at a rate of 10.4% compared to a rate of 6% for young white people. The highest rate was for Gypsy and Roma communities at 21.3%.476 A young person in our engagement session focused on young people from ethnic minority backgrounds told us:

“If you get excluded from school it becomes not possible to access work—these children need more support than those staying in mainstream education, but they don’t get it”.477

264.We heard from one young person that careers advice in her Pupil Referral Unit was below the standard of mainstream schools. This is particularly concerning as young people in these types of Alternative Provision school may benefit most from quality careers advice.478 There are currently over 32,000 young people who are unable to attend mainstream schools and are attending Alternative Provision.479

265.Research shows that while second-generation people from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to achieve high educational qualifications than the white majority, this success is not translating to rewards in the jobs market.480 Dr Gurleen Popli, senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Sheffield, said that this may be for several reasons. They might search for jobs differently to young white people or have limited access to networks that their white peers have to give them a first entry point.481 Another young person from an ethnic minority background told us during our dedicated engagement session:

“For families who have moved to this country, I see a real difference between those who have strong existing networks in the UK who can help them–they have done a lot better during COVID than those who don’t”.482

266.There are differing rates of progression to HE, with white pupils least likely to go to HE by age 19 in 2019–20 (38.7%) compared to Chinese (80.9%), Asian (64.3%) and young black people (59.9%). However, the progression rate to high tariff HE for black Caribbean pupils is less than half of the overall national figure (10.9%) at 5%.483 We heard types of institution have more success with young people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Tom Dower of UTC South Durham told us that of disadvantaged ethnic minority students completing level 3 qualifications at UTCs, 72% go to university, compared to 59% nationally.484 Some UTCs show particularly strong figures. The Life Sciences UTC in Toxteth, Liverpool is based in an area where young people have a very low chance of going to university. More than half of its students are from ethnic minority communities and 34 different languages are spoken by students. All 23 black students that left in July 2021 went on to university.485

267.One young person from an ethnic minority background spoke of his experiences of disadvantage and discrimination. He told us that:

“I was always told I had to work ten times harder to get the same result, and had it instilled in me that education would lead to a better life. On the other hand, white peers tended to assume they would do well”.486

268.We heard from many who gave evidence that hiring discrimination still exists in the recruitment process. Lee Jasper, co-founder of Blaksox, referred us to research showing that applicants from BAME backgrounds had to send 60% more applications to get a positive response from an employer than their white counterparts. We heard about the practice of ‘playing English’, where members of the GRT community hide their accent to avoid discrimination.487 Stephen Evans of the Learning and Work Institute referred us to research that showed that black applicants to an apprenticeship were half as likely to succeed as white applicants.488 It is also important to note that discrimination is a cross-cutting issue, and also a factor in gender divides as well as the hiring of young disabled people.

269.Some groups face very particular challenges related to their ethnic background. We heard that young asylum seekers face challenges with isolation and emotional wellbeing. They might have to condense significant formal education into a short space of time to achieve basic qualifications in English, Maths and ICT before they can go on to further study or work. Many are not ready to apply for Government schemes.489

270.The Government has few schemes directly targeted at supporting young people from ethnic minority backgrounds; however, it told us that it recognises the need for such support. It pointed to the role of mentoring circles, in which employers offer specialised support to jobseekers. They are available to all 16 to 24-year-olds claiming benefits, are voluntary and support groups to build employability skills. They are targeted by JCP to local need; for example, they can be targeted towards ethnic minority groups. There were 630 mentoring circles attended by 4,400 people from July 2019 to January 2020.490 It also pointed to its work with local bodies in ‘challenge areas’, 20 targeted areas where it is opening opportunities for ethnic minority customers, based on research and data from the Race Disparity Audit.491

271.We heard that some sectors like construction and engineering can be inaccessible to young people from ethnic minority backgrounds; for example, we were told that young black people struggled to gain positions in these sectors. Despite initiatives such as the publication of a toolkit by the Mayor of London, progress is slow.492 Jeremy Crook of the BTEG referred us to the 5 Cities programme, in which the National Apprenticeship Service worked with business and public sector leaders to explore which sectors in their local area were not recruiting under-represented groups. The new LSIPs may present an opportunity to take this forward. Another young person at our session with people from ethnic minority backgrounds told us:

“Some industries, like the creative industries, work on who you know and relationships. It can be particularly challenging for young people from diverse backgrounds to break in—‘there are very few people who look like us working in this space’.”.493

272.Despite improvements in the proportion of apprenticeship starts by people from ethnic minorities (14.2% in 2020-21 up from 12.1% in 2018–19), young people in this demographic are still underrepresented.494 In the year to July 2019, the figures are broadly in line with the proportion of people by ethnicity in the population. However, 67.4% of black people who started apprenticeships were over 25 (compared to 44.1% of white people). While 23.1% of starts were by white people under 19, this drops to just 0.4% for black people of the same age.495

273.Collecting detailed information about ethnic minorities via the Labour Force Survey (LFS) is complicated by small sample sizes, while data is not regularly published on ethnic minority groups. Given that data is collected by households linked to address, reaching GRT communities can be particularly difficult.496

274.We heard a range of recommendations outlining what could be done to improve the situation for young ethnic minority communities:

• Dr Jason Arday of Durham University and the Runnymede Trust suggested that more could be done to formalise mentoring, guidance and coaching to support these young people and provide them with these networks;497
• Dr Gurleen Popli from Sheffield University told us that if an applicant’s identity is kept separate from the application, hiring discrimination “almost disappears”. She noted there was very little hiring discrimination in public sector jobs due to this reason. Incentivising more private sector businesses to adopt this policy would be a step forward;498
• Amy Fazackerley, a representative of Coach Core Foundation, told us that employers need to think more about a young person through practical, contextual recruitment processes, and to ask themselves why they might not have certain qualifications. This will enable them to better get to know the young person and their potential;499
• Jeremy Crook of the BTEG recommended employers should be made more aware of their ability to use the levers given to them via the Positive Action measures outlined in the Equality Act 2010, to target ethnic minority groups and report on hiring. A young person from an ethnic minority background added that “many employers have a very reactive approach to discrimination–they don’t really have a proper anti-discrimination policy and are ill equipped to deal with incidents when they arise”;500
• Patricia Stapleton of The Traveller Movement recommended offering more tailored, wraparound support for young people, including targeted awareness-raising campaigns beyond the usual JCP channels, and additional funding for GRT young people to return to education to obtain essential qualifications;501 and
• Mandatory ethnic minority pay reporting (as was implemented with regards to gender for companies larger than 250 employees in 2017) has been suggested by a number of high-profile groups including the TUC, CBI and the Equality and Human Rights Commission,502 as well as Baroness McGregor-Smith’s 2017 report on Race in the Workplace.503 The Government has not responded to its own 2018 consultation or the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which advocated for voluntary reporting.504 This is despite research showing the introduction of mandatory gender pay gap reporting led to the gender pay gap closing by 19% in some companies.505 The Minister for Employment told us “pay gap reporting is important. Actively working with employers to help to increase their ethnic minority employment and reduce that gap has an important part to play”.506

275.In a recent debate in the House of Lords, the Government acknowledged the difficulties with establishing a standard ethnicity pay reporting framework due to challenges in collecting data that is accurate and robust, devising a framework that ensures anonymity, making sure that differences between ethnic groups are not masked by combining all individuals into a single homogenous group, and ensuring results are not skewed due to low sample sizes.507

Box 11: Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

Workforce monitoring has been proven to have an effect. In Northern Ireland, the introduction of Fair Employment Acts saw the composition of the workforce dramatically change from 1990 (65.1% Protestant and 34.9% Catholic, a shortfall of around 4 percentage points in the Catholic share)) to 2017 (51.1% Protestant and 48.9% Catholic). Between 1992 and 2017 the number of monitored Catholic full-time employees had increased by almost 73,000 (55%). The Equality Commission found the makeup of the monitored workforce in 2017 more closely reflects labour supply than when monitoring was introduced in 1990.

Source: Northern Ireland Assembly, N Edgar-Fitzsimons and Dr R T Russell, ‘Fair Employment in Northern Ireland; the decades of change (1990–2017)’, 10 September 2019; Ministry of Health and Social Services, Report and Recommendations of the Working Party on Discrimination in the Private Sector of Employment, 23 May 1973, (not available online); Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, ‘Fair Employment in Northern Ireland, Code of Practice’, see pages 8-9, 44-51; Legislaton.gov.uk, ‘Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989’ Legislation.gov.uk, ‘Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998’ and ‘Explanatory Note’ [all accessed 23 September 2021]

276.Many young people from ethnic minority backgrounds, particularly those from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Caribbean and African backgrounds, face a range of challenges accessing the labour market. Despite improvements in the gap in unemployment between ethnic minority groups and their white peers, their success in education is still not being translated into success in the labour market. They are still subject to discrimination on the part of some employers, are over-represented in precarious types of work, are less likely to benefit from the same social networks and professional connections as some of their white peers, and are more likely to have been harder hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, young people from disadvantaged groups in the white community also face challenges that must be considered as part of any strategy to achieve equality.

277.The Government must launch an Education and Workplace Race Equality Strategy as a matter of urgency given the impact that COVID-19 has had on ethnic minority youth. This should focus on removing barriers including through mandating regular collection of data. The strategy should be intersectional given many of the issues concerning race and ethnicity are cross-cutting with socio-economic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and migration status. It should also be tailored so that it considers differences between ethnic groups, with specific recommendations for youth from ethnic groups most at risk such as young people from a Black Caribbean, Pakistani or Bangladeshi background, and those from white disadvantaged groups such as those from GRT communities. The proposed Youth Commissioner (see Chapter 7) should have a significant role in the development and implementation of the Education and Workplace Race Equality strategy, which should:

• Mandate the DWP to carry out an assessment on why the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on ethnic minority youth in relation to unemployment, insecure contracts, and precarious work conditions;
• Introduce workforce monitoring for large employers, like that successfully introduced to tackle gender discrimination in the workplace, and new legislation to mandate ethnicity pay reporting;
• Provide guidance to encourage name-blind CV recruitment practices in the private sector to ensure a person’s skills, qualifications and attributes alone are recognised by hiring teams and targeted support programmes that will help ethnic minority youth overcome issues such as a lack of access to networks;
• Focus on finding and tackling the causes of disparities, especially for at-risk ethnic minority groups in education;
• Introduce additional academic support such as targeted funding for catch up lessons and extra tutoring in core subjects such as English and Maths as well as more resources to ensure all pupils have good access to digital devices;
• Launch an investigation into the cause of high exclusion rates for Black Caribbean and GRT pupils, and publish regular, disaggregated data on school exclusions more broadly;
• Evaluate the potential impact of having more ethnic minority teachers and school governors on exclusion rates of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds; and
• Launch a database of national mentors as part of the CEC offer, particularly focussing on recruiting mentors from ethnic minority backgrounds as well as—for example—those with SEND and women in sectors commonly thought of as atypical, such as STEM industries.

278.The Government must ensure it publishes Equality Impact Assessments508 in a timely fashion, alongside the publication of new policy papers and legislation. It should explore whether the Equality Act 2010 could be amended to require a statutory duty on public authorities to produce Impact Assessments and whether guidance can be issued to employers about positive levers they can take under the Equality Act.

Young people who have been in care

279.National statistics show that on 31 March 2020, there were over 80,000 children looked after, up 2% on 2019. This means that 67 children per 10,000 under 18 years old were looked after.509

280.Care leavers face specific issues accessing the labour market. Data shows that of 11,220 care leavers aged 18 in 2020, 48% were in education, 17% were in training or employment, and 31% were NEET. Data was unknown for the remaining 5%. For 19- to 21-year-olds, there were 31,260 care leavers. 6% were in HE, 20% were in education, 26% in training or employment, and 39% were NEET. This is compared to around 13% for all young people of this age. Information was not known for the remaining 9%.510

281.Young people who have had experience in care may struggle to achieve the education they need to get into work. The DfE has recently established a Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) pilot running until March 2022, to test the extension of financial support to care-experienced young people in FE.511 As they may be socio-economically disadvantaged too, young people who have been in care are also more likely to suffer from a lack of access to technologies. To address this, the Government recently announced a £126 million expansion of Get Help with Technology for children with a social worker and those leaving care. Up to half a million disadvantaged children and young people in England will receive up to 10,000 laptops and tablets as a result.512

282.Looked after children are also less likely to enter HE. The progression rate to high tariff HE for children who have been continuously looked after for at least 12 months has stayed flat at 1% for the last decade.513 Just 6% of the 19- to 21-year-old care leavers in 2020 were known to be in HE.514

283.We heard that care leavers lack the support, opportunities and social networks that their peers may have access to. They are more likely to experience mental health problems, live on their own, and face disruption to their education.515 Karen Glaves, a representative of Futures for You, told us that for young people who have been in care, education is not always their top priority as they are trying to adjust to independent living. This makes preparing them for the labour market difficult.516 The Shaw Trust cited evidence from Sheffield Hallam University, which found that young people who have had experience of being in care may prioritise immediate housing needs over employment, while financial stress can pose a challenge to education and training.517

284.At Budget 2021, the Government brought forward a change to the care leaver exemption from the shared accommodation rate (SAR) of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). The change extends the upper age limit to qualify for the care leaver exemption from age 22 to 25. This enables care leavers aged 18 to 22 on either Universal Credit or Housing Benefit to receive the higher one-bedroom housing support instead of the shared accommodation rate. It gives care leavers an extra three years to find employment and build networks.518

285.We heard about positive local interventions in Cornwall for young people in care. Meredith Teasdale, Strategic Director of Together for Families at Cornwall Council, told us the council’s relationship with the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly LEP was helping to ensure young care leavers do not slip through the net. She told us:

“We talk to the LEP about the importance of children in care and care leavers having employment opportunities in Cornwall, and we are one of the three best local authorities at ensuring that our children in care are in employment, education or training. Last year, about 72% of our care leavers were in education, employment or training, whereas the national figure is about 50%. A lot of that is about that good relationship between the local authority and the LEP, and therefore with businesses, making sure that we understand the skills that are required, as well as businesses supporting our care leavers into work. There is a demonstrable sign of that effective relationship”.519

286.Meredith Teasdale also told us about the need to work intensely with young care leavers around practical issues such as getting to work and the appropriate clothing for interviews. She said it is essential that there is “clear guidance” to help advisers to do this, and to spot warning signs where a young person might be at risk of becoming NEET.520

287.The Government told us it offers a range of measures for young care-experienced people. The DfE provides a bursary of £1,000, available to all care leavers aged 16 to 24. 521 The Second Chance Learning Scheme supports those aged 18 to 21 to catch up on education. Housing Benefit, UC or Housing Support is available to those who study full-time in secondary education and are without parental support.522 The Government provides £1,000 to employers and training providers when they take on 19 to 24-year-old care leavers.523 Jonathan Foot, Head of Apprenticeships and Early Careers at Compass Group, spoke positively about the Government’s Care Leaver Covenant, set up to support care leavers aged between 16 and 25.524

288.Young people who have been in care face a range of challenges in their personal lives that may make achieving success in the labour market more difficult to achieve. They are likely to have faced significant disruption to their education and face challenging financial circumstances. They are underrepresented in high tariff HE participation and are disproportionately represented in NEET statistics. While support mechanisms are in place to help them move into work, the Government must consider whether these are working effectively and are properly targeted and fully resourced to address the challenges these vulnerable young people face.

289.The Government must ensure that the needs of young people who have been in care are considered central to the design of policy intended to improve the opportunities for disadvantaged young people in the labour market. There must be specific, targeted support available for these young people to ensure their needs are taken into account.

Young people who have been in custody

290.Young people who do not achieve formal qualifications or who face time out of work may have a higher likelihood of going into crime. When they enter custody, 47% of people have no formal qualifications. 42% have been expelled or permanently excluded from school, and 57% of adults have literacy levels below what is expected of an 11-year-old.525

291.Today, 18- to 24-year-olds are over-represented in the criminal justice system; despite comprising just 10% of the population as a whole, they make up between 30% and 40% of the criminal justice caseload, and 16% of the prison population. They also have some of the highest reoffending rates; 75% of young adults reoffend within two years of release.526 There was an average of just over 780 children (aged between 10 and 17) in custody at any one time in the year ending March 2020.527

292.Engaging in education while in custody can have a significant positive impact on a person’s chance of finding employment and avoiding reoffending. The Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) told us that most children in custody do not receive the mandated 15 hours per week due to disruptions and challenges.528 Dame Sally Coates’ 2016 review into prison education found that young people can be some of the hardest to engage in education, because they are particularly disillusioned with education.529 Around 18% of people in custody taking at least one initial assessment were aged 18 to 24 in April 2019 to March 2020. After taking these assessments, people in custody can take part in courses, and of all of those taking courses, 18% were aged 18 to 24 (see below).530

Table 3: Adult (18+) FE and skills participation (2019/20) in prison education

	Below Level 2 (excluding English, Maths, ICT & ESOL)	English, Maths, ICT & ESOL	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4+	Total learners	%
Total learners	29,723	30,168	24,772	1,226	8	67,663	100.0%
18–24	6,030	5,728	4,490	170	N/A	12,402	18.4%

Source: Ministry of Justice, ‘Prison education statistics tables 2019 to 2020’, 5 August 2021 [accessed 1 November 2021], table 1.5

293.During the COVID-19 pandemic, lost learning affected children and young people in custody just as it affected those in schools and colleges. There was no classroom education in prisons for five months during the pandemic, while workshops for developing vocational skills were closed down.531

294.While the extent of illiteracy and innumeracy amongst people in custody is well documented, we also heard that there is a significant problem with digital skills amongst people in custody, which may seriously inhibit their ability to achieve work on release if not addressed urgently. The PLA told us that despite the advancement of digital literacy elsewhere, “the digital revolution has largely passed prisons by”. It has called for a more in-cell devices and access to more secure digital infrastructure to support learning in custody. The lack of connectivity was a particular problem during the COVID-19 pandemic, as delivering socially distanced and blended learning was not able to be delivered as it was in other places of learning. The PLA said that “the lack of ICT and any kind of internet access has put prisoners at greater disadvantage than any other educational sector”.532

295.Children and young people in custody are not able to access the same standard of support and guidance through tutoring, careers advice and advocacy routes as their peers in the outside world. The PLA argued that careers advice should be provided by an independent organisation that does not provide additional education or training within the prison estate.533

296.The lack of parity in funding for education between the prison estate and other education institutions is a critical issue. This has been the topic of a number of recent reviews, not least the 2016 review by Dame Sally Coates, which found that three-fifths of people in custody leave without an employment, education or training outcome. This is difficult to analyse because, as the PLA told us, there is no published data on progression and qualifications for children studying while in custody.534 It is also borne out by the Government’s funding pledges to education during the pandemic. The Government committed to additional funding for FE, training and apprenticeships; however, education for those in custody was left out of this funding.535

297.Employment has been shown to have an impact on reducing rates of reoffending.536 However, only 10% of men of all ages leaving custody had a job six weeks after leaving, and the figure is just 4% for women.537 We heard that young people who have criminal convictions to declare face barriers to finding work.538 Sope Otulana of the Youth Futures Foundation told us these might include being less likely to achieve qualifications needed for work compared to those not in custody,539 while the PLA told us of structural challenges relating to “lengthy or indefinite disclosure periods [that] prevent people moving forward”.540

298.We also heard of limitations in Government schemes for people who have been in custody. For example, the Prison Apprenticeship Pathway was introduced in the Ministry of Justice’s 2018 Education and Employment Strategy. It is intended to provide a route for people in custody to gain qualifications and work experience, with training taking place during a stay in custody and an apprenticeship on release guaranteeing a job and income. This is because people in custody are not allowed to have employment contracts.541 We were told by the PLA that release on temporary licence (ROTL)—where a person in custody who is security cleared can access day release for work or education—could be an avenue for allowing a person to start work via the pathway. The PLA added that:

“There are no centrally collated figures of prisoners who regularly access college or university in the community for courses or training. ROTL could also be used as a key part of the apprenticeship pathway so that apprentices are able to become familiar with and start working at their placement before they are released from prison”.542

299.We heard that some employers have built successful pipelines to employment for people who have been in custody. For example, Timpson utilises ROTL to employ people who have been in custody to work in their shops as an “essential bridge between custody and release”. It runs training academies inside prisons where people in custody can take on vocational training to help them prepare for work in a Timpson store.543 However, the PLA told us that this approach, while hugely valuable, is too piecemeal and there is not enough support for employers to actively engage with the those in custody.544

300.The Government told us that it has introduced 158 new work coaches in prisons and is currently working with the Ministry of Justice on traineeships. The Government also told us that people who have left custody have—and will continue to have—priority access to the Work and Health Programme, Kickstart and Restart.545 However, without adequate CEIAG and funding for education on the prison estate, people in custody will not be properly placed to take advantage of these schemes and their impact may be limited.

301.Children and young people in the criminal justice system, many of whom are already disadvantaged in many ways, face several barriers to employment. They have limited access to many of the educational resources available to those outside, and as a result their ability to effectively rebuild their lives and obtain good work is severely hampered.

302.This lack of support for personal and professional development often results in a carousel of release, instability and ultimately reoffending. We received limited evidence on prison education and therefore recommend the Government consider the recommendations of the current House of Commons Education Select Committee’s inquiry into education in prisons, and Ofsted and HMIP’s joint review into prison education.

303.The Government must commit to improving the provision of education and employment support for young people who are in custody or have been engaged with the criminal justice system. This must be a central pillar of Ofsted and HMIP’s upcoming review of prison education. Specific initiatives must include:

• The Government must adapt the Prison Apprenticeship Pathway to allow for the work experience portion of an apprenticeship to start either while in custody or during release on temporary licence (ROTL). This should also cover traineeships;
• The Government must ensure digital skills are integrated into learning in custody so that young people in custody are not left behind. It must increase the availability of monitored devices in prisons so that young people can access learning resources; and
• The Government must commission a pilot to test how the Gatsby Benchmarks and careers guidance could be adapted for those learning while in custody, focussing on independent, tailored advice and guidance.

---

• A-Z index
• Glossary
• Contact us
• Freedom of Information
• Jobs
• Using this website
• Copyright