AVERAGE UK YOUNG PERSON JOBLESS FOR TWO YEARS BEFORE THEIR 30th BIRTHDAY
Now is not an easy time to be a job-seeking graduate – but new figures suggest that things are even bleaker for those who haven’t been to university. The latest figures are “shocking” and “shaming”, experts say – as young people with all levels of education are being abandoned to their fate.
New figures published show that young people in the UK face being unemployed for more than two years before they reach the age of 30. A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – comparing education across the world – shows that twenty-somethings in the UK can expect to be out of work for longer than those in Australia, Canada and much of Europe. But the report found investing in education pays off in the long run. The likelihood of being out of work drops dramatically the more education a person has, with students who carry on studying after secondary school less likely to find themselves unemployed.
In comments that may surprise many of Graduate Fog’s readers, OECD’s deputy director for education and skills Andreas Schleicher insisted the labour market shows no sign of being overloaded with graduates. Instead, it is the unskilled jobs that have been disappearing, leaving those without qualifications vulnerable to unemployment, he said. There has always been an earnings gap between graduates and those less well qualified, but the OECD says that this widened even further between 2009 and 2011.
According to the OECD’s figures for 2011, people aged between 15 and 29 in the UK spend on average 2.3 years unemployed, compared with 1.7 years in Germany and 1.1 years in the Netherlands. More recent anecdotal evidence – including posts on this website – raise concerns that this could be even longer today. Sir Peter Lampl, head of the Education Endowment Foundation, said:
“Our one million NEETs [young people not in employment, education or training] are a shaming testimony to our collective failure to get vocational education right and the OECD is right to highlight how poorly we compare with many other countries. We can’t afford the economic and social cost of such shocking dropout levels. If young people don’t develop their skills in work or education, they lose what they have learnt and become unemployable.”
Graduate Fog’s thoughts: If we’re saying graduates are doing well, what on earth is life like for non-graduates?
*DO YOU HAVE SYMPATHY FOR THOSE WITHOUT A DEGREE?
Or is it fair that those who invest their time, work and money in gaining further qualifications tend to fare better in the jobs market? Are you shocked to hear that those without a degree are doing even worse than you? Should politicians be doing more to fix the UK’s youth unemployment crisis? Share your views on this story below!
For people who chose not to go to university it can work out quite well, depending on your intentions. For people who chose not to go to further their education and have found themselves languishing on JSA / ESA, they’re in a world of pain and no one will help you unless you help yourself. Speaking from experience.
From my personal experience, the majority I know who didn’t go to university, are now doing much better than those of us who did…mortgages, children, marriage, career + more experience, successful businesses, social life…they seem to have it all simply because they got started younger instead of spending 3+ years in books. On the other hand, I’m on £17k, living in a council flat, on anti-depressants, debt, a degree which in reality is literally a sheet of A4 paper with a shiny stamp on it, and considered lucky by my graduate friends who are mostly on JSA. You couldn’t make it up.
The ones without degrees who are unemployed (in my experience), are simply not working because they are either pregnant or raising a young family. Jobs of those in employment range from Tesco checkout operator and bus driver, to HR manager and director! If only I could turn back the clock! I find it rather embarrassing if I’m truthful.
@ Becks x x x: As I said before, £17k is unfortunately quite good these days for much of our age group, and in my experience council flats are gold-dust in many places due to shortage (I’m assuming I’ll be perpetually renting privately – at the moment I’m only renting an attic in a couples’ house, so a flat is good going 🙂 ).
I noticed that about the OECD report and think it makes it questionable. They’re like the CBI and the STEM establishment and the government – peddling the simplistic myth that all these poor “unskilled” workers need to do is go to university and become “skilled” (and maybe do some unpaid “training” afterwards) and everything will be OK 😉
All I can say is, at least we’re not in Greece. I presume, with over 60% of under 24s out of work there :O , the figure must be higher there. (Not convinced Britain would still be a recognisable liberal democracy if we ever reach such an insane figure – I hope we never find out).
I’m emulating the Irish, Greeks and Spanish etc personally. I’m looking for jobs in Germany and Eastern Europe now (I can speak a bit of German at least after living there on ERASMUS for a year, which is hopefully a start). But of course, if my parents didn’t help me move out there if I find something (which thankfully they), lack of money would likely trap me where I presently live, which is the serious problem with all this “get on your bike” talk.
Yes I feel sorry for those without a degree, but also feel that those with a degree should legitimately expect a higher rate of pay as part of the reward for working hard at uni. However, this misses the real point which is that the economy as a whole has been really and truly fouled up, not just as a consequence of the banking crisis but also as a consequence of austerity and the policies of our current inept and elitist government. In a healthy economy there should not only be plenty of jobs but also plenty of variety within the labour market so that those without degrees still have an important role to play even though they are less well-paid. I spent long years as a non-graduate so even though I have a marginal level of elitism as a graduate, if that’s the right word, its probably not, it certainly doesn’t extend to outright dismissal of those who haven’t been to uni. Far from it in fact. What both graduates and non-graduates should do is join together to demand an end to austerity and the introduction of real policies that will have a real chance of generating growth and jobs. That has already started to happen with the anti-cuts movement and it needs to go further, and ultimately I think we need a change of government, and the sooner the better.
I don’t think graduates should expect a higher rate of pay as a reward for going to uni. There are massive differences in the difficulty and workload of different degrees. Engineering/Physics and film studies anyone?
The fact is engineering graduates come in as bosses of guys who have been doing it for years. These grads in reality know nothing and have to be taught through experience rather than just having learnt in a classroom. Same with most jobs.
At the end of the day,
We are ALL wage slaves..
Some research from Adzuna also points out the disparity in earnings potential from different classes of degree:
Graduates with a 2:1 or higher earn £10k per year more than those with a 2:2 or Third
A 2:2 grade just isn’t enough in a job market where there are over 50 graduates competing for every job.
Engineering, Law and Economics grads earn the highest salaries, while Tourism, Art & Design and Sociology degree holders may take longer to pay off student loans
High salaries for Offshore Oil Platform workers, Plumbers & Police Officers show that university isn’t always the best-paying option
The research goes on: For school leavers who are put off university education entirely by rising debts and tuition fees of over £9,000 per year, all may not be not lost. Offshore Oil Platform jobs topped Adzuna’s analysis of the highest-paying jobs that don’t require a degree with many jobs paying upwards of £70,000 per annum. Plumbers, Police Officers & Specialist Sales People also top of the list of best paying professions that don’t require a degree.
@Tony bLiar which one are you, out of interest?
It’s a load of rubbish, there’s plenty of unskilled work: cleaning, bar/shop assistants etc. It’s the quality graduate roles that are missing-how many applicants was it for each graduate vacancy again? Everyone I know has been underemployed for their degree and had to work years for a permanent, let alone decent, position. I studied English Literature btw, which may not be a great degree to get into work (bar teaching) but certainly isn’t ‘mickey mouse.’ Film studies involves writing essays that analyse films in terms of history, psychology, culture-it’s not just watching dvds! Science and technical subjects aren’t harder than arts subjects, just different.
@Caitlyn:
I would dispute there’s plenty of what you refer to as “unskilled” work, though I guess it depends where you live. In Birmingham and especially some parts of the North the number of unemployed and economically inactive (not not mention underemployed and seeking more hours/better work) certainly far outstrips advertised vacancies.
I have certainly seen adverts for cleaners that require experience too.
Another thing to remember with retail, bar work, cleaning etc is that increasingly the vacancies are part-time (especially for new entrants), which unless a worker lives with their parents/a partner can make it difficult for people to take these jobs (especially in high-rent areas) – i.e. the benefit trap. We’ve had two large, new supermarkets open in Birmingham and I don’t recall seeing a single position in then over 25 hours being advertised. (My rent for a room is something like 20 hours’ labour at that wage is tax is taken into account 🙁 )
Theoretically Housing Benefit is meant to help, but the system can be quite financially risky, confusing and dysfunctional – in my experience from doing two days of work I though would last longer, I’d’ve been better off not doing it – especially with how long (c 3 weeks) it took the Housing Benefit to restart after being suspended (lucky my landlords are nice).
Basically I would argue there’s a shortage of all types of vacancies in some areas. There may be dozens to hundreds applying to each graduate vacancy, but where I live there are often 100+ applying to many – possibly most -advertised vacancies that don’t require experience (e.g. anything with a title like “administrative assistant”) – and remember how many applied for those three Costa jobs in Nottingham.
@Becks xXx
I’m so with you!! agree with all your comments. may i please applaud you because i’m quite impressed by what you have achieved,