In the United Kingdom, the number of young people (16 to 24 years-old) not in education, employment or training (NEET) was estimated to be c.763,000 in October to December 2019. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of NEET young people attending alternative education provisions that focus on physical and mental health in…

This article examines the position of young women in the UK and France who are defined as not in education, employment or training (NEET) and economically inactive (EI). While the challenges facing the young unemployed are well documented, far less is known about economic inactivity and its propensity to impact to a much greater extent on the…

This paper examines the role of the UK's post-16 education and training system in supporting the young unemployed. It maps the trajectory of a series of time-limited policy initiatives, which have attempted to install a training system for young people alongside containing fluctuating levels of youth unemployment. The impact of the expansion of…

Work experience placements are mandatory in the UK for all young people aged 16-18 in education, and their employability effects and associated wage premia are well noted in the literature. Through Bourdieu's lens, this article analyses and conceptualises a unique data set of reflective testimonies submitted in response to a YouGov survey of over…

Since 2004, the devolved education systems of England, Scotland and Wales have introduced initiatives to increase contact between employers and young people, particularly aged 14-19, as a supplementary, co-curricular activity within mainstream education. The initiatives are motivated partly to increase wage-earning potential but studies to date…

This paper is based on a small-scale mixed-method research project, which was located in south-east England and was funded by the British Academy. The project, investigated the factors that affected young people's decisions not to progress to higher education (HE) after following a Level 3 vocational pathway in upper secondary education. Set…

This paper explores the changes and continuities to apprenticeship in England since the 1960s. It argues that apprenticeship is primarily a model of learning that still has relevance for skill formation, personal development and employer need. It also argues that, since the late 1970s and the introduction of state-sponsored youth training,…

Based on the results of transition studies in the UK, Germany, USA and Canada, the virtues of analysing the structural contexts, institutional arrangements and the young peoples' action orientations are presented. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, school and the labour market have become more and more decoupled and transition routes…

This paper is based on research conducted as part of the Equal Opportunities Commission's General Formal Investigation into gender segregation in the United Kingdom labour market. The project comprised a survey of and focus groups with 14/15 year-olds in eight English schools in spring 2004 and a survey of 15/16 year-olds in four Welsh schools in…

Reviews the growth of flexible employment, the United Kingdom youth labor market, and student employment. Reports on a survey of the retail grocery sector indicating that student labor enables the use of flexible work practices. Highlights the different employment opportunities available to students who are working while in school and school…

British survey data from 3,733 on-time graduates and 841 mature graduates (first degree after age 25) showed that lower pay for mature graduates was linked with social class, institution attended, and public sector employment. The public sector was less likely to discriminate against mature graduates. (SK)

Interviews with 40 young adults participating in Britain's New Deal for Young People showed that the program helped some, did not help some, and was inappropriate for others. The New Deal appears to individualize employment, neglecting structural factors causing job displacement, against which individual agency may be ineffective. (Contains 33…

Analyzes the recommendations of the Dearing "Review of Qualifications for 16-19 Year Olds" in Britain. Makes suggestions for a unified qualifications system and places reform within a wider context, including a possible change in government. (SK)

A case study of work experience provided in a British project committed to gender equality shows that the nature of work experience--its alliance with labor market needs--makes it virtually impossible to meet equal opportunity objectives. Work experience tends to reinforce existing gender divisions in the labor market. (SK)

Using a model of successful transition outcomes (independent living, social competence, economic self-sufficiency, and postschool education and employment) and data from 360 British young adults with special needs, patterns of transition are described. It is suggested that productive daytime activity and quality of life may be more relevant…