Audit Commission report suggests that Neet problem 'may be worse than previously thought'

The Audit Commission report: Against the Odds - Re-engaging Young People in Education, Employment or Training, claims to have looked more deeply into the issue than any previous study.

It analyses the records of 24,000 young people in 10 different areas between 2007 and 2009.

"After age 18 they could drift into unemployed, unqualified and untrained adulthood."Chairman of the Audit Commission, Michael O'Higgins, said: "Young people should be the future, but tens of thousands are at risk.

The report warned that the 10% who were not in education, employment or training for more than six months were at risk of falling into long-term joblessness, ill-health and criminality.

If the study areas were representative of the national situation, that would translates to about 85,000 young people across England, the report says.

Intervention

The £8.7bn set aside for training rarely reaches the most disadvantaged teenagers, the report says.

Being out of school and work is often linked with other social issues such as being in care, teenage parenthood and homelessness, it adds.

Teenagers out of education and employment are often the sons or daughters of parents who have themselves dropped out of school early.

The report calls for councils to get to grips with the needs of their local teenagers and said funding should be targeted in a better way.

It also calls for intervention to support under-16s at risk of dropping out of school, and better schemes to encourage young people into training or work.

Founder and Chief Executive of Red Balloon Dr Carrie Herbert said "We know that at any time, there are also some 6000 children and young people missing from education due to severe bullying. These are the NEETs of the future and we are doing something about this now."

Dr Herbert continued, "they have a right to an education and to not be left on the scrap heap of society.

We must protect these young people, they are our future nurses, teachers, parents, economists, writers, actors, carers, bus drivers and so on. We fail them now at the heart of their most informative years as young citizens, if we do anything less.”

The report highlights a significant need to address at the earliest stage possible to prevent disengagement of children and young people to this extent. Coordinated approaches and ring fenced funds for organisations capable of delivering preventative work is crucial

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF NEETS

• Four times more like to be out of work
• Five times more like to have a criminal record
• Six times less likely to have qualifications
• Three times more likely to have depression

Click the link to download the full set documents:

http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/

 

-- Posted by Red Balloon - on 7th July 2010 --