Research Findings: Age - Youth: Employment and health Summary Papers

Youth transitions:  patterns of vulnerability and social inclusion

This report for the Scottish Executive followed the youngest cohort of the Twenty-07 Study from age 15 to age 28 and includes extended qualitative interviews with some of them when they were 28-29 year olds.  It provides an assessment of the extent to which different groups of young people became active in shaping their post-school experiences and of the factors which limited or constrained their choices. 

We found few young people left school with clear ideas about how they could manage their move into work effectively.  Young people who lacked qualifications and skills often had difficulties in establishing themselves in the job market and became vulnerable to repeated and extended periods of unemployment.  Other factors linked to vulnerability included having a manual social class background, a history of parents being unemployed and living in poorer neighbourhoods.  Family knowledge and connections were central to the effective management of moves into the job market.  Aside from the larger companies, firms tended not to provide young people with core transferable skills and most provided minimal training.  Most of those who encountered difficulties did so within the first three years of entering the job market, but the majority eventually secured jobs without external help.  Around 6% of the cohort experienced 'chaotic' changes with their early careers dominated by unemployment.  Most of those who encountered long-term and repeated unemployment were not ‘unemployable’, as they had previously held jobs, sometimes for lengthy periods.  Young people tended to overcome difficult or unexpected situations to find work through determination and persistence combined with strong family support. 

The main findings of this study stress the need for specific interventions to promote social inclusion directed towards young people who encounter a substantial period of unemployment beginning the first year of entry into the job market; young people who experience cumulative unemployment of over a year at any stage; and young people with complex career histories (even when they have managed to avoid long-term unemployment).

Furlong, A., F. Cartmel, et al. (2003). Youth transitions: patterns of vulnerability and processes of social inclusion. Edinburgh, Scottish Executive.
open access

 

No job, no future:  factors that affect mental health of young people

Reflecting interest in the emergence of health inequalities over the youth-adult transition a number of analyses have been undertaken on data collected from the 1970s cohort from the time they were 15 through to 21 years of age. 

We found high levels of poor physical and mental health in both males and females.  One third of males and 40% of females experienced mental health problems at 18 years.  Poorer mental health was strongly linked to the experience of unemployment and being at home (especially among females).  In addition, an expectation of being unemployed in the future appears to lead to greater mental health problems.  For many young people entering the job market, the prospect of limited job opportunities and associated health risks is a major public health concern and planning appropriated services to address these needs should remain high on policy agenda.

West, P. and H. Sweeting (1996). "Nae job, nae future: young people and health in a context of unemployment." Health & Social Care in the Community 4: 50-62.