Resolution Foundation has recently published the third report in their ‘Living Standards Outlook’ series, which assesses “how the hoped-for post-pandemic economic recovery might translate into a recovery for living standards”.

The report states that Government support schemes have, on the whole, protected household incomes and jobs this year. However, continued rising unemployment, combined with the possible removal of the £20 Universal Credit uplift, could lead to a further 1.2 million people falling into relative poverty, including 400,000 children, the biggest year-on-year rise in poverty rates since the 1980s.

The report concludes that the recovery for living standards in the next 5 years will depend greatly on timing the “withdrawal of economy support closely to the easing of the public health restrictions, a strong fiscal stimulus”.

To read the Resolution Foundation (2021) report in full, click here.

The Prince’s Trust Tesco Youth Index 2021 reports on the impact that COVID-19 is having on young people’s mental health in the UK. Using findings from a survey across 2,180 16-25 year olds, the report highlights the “devastating toll” the COVID-19 pandemic has had on young people’s mental health, with those not in education, employment or training significantly more likely to feel anxious and depressed. 

Key results found in the report are:

• • 26% of 16 to 25-year olds admit they feel “unable to cope with life”, increasing to 40% among NEETs;
  • 65% of NEETs said that the longer they are jobless, the worse they feel about themselves;
  • 24% of all young people surveyed said the pandemic has destroyed their career hopes;
  • 60% of young people said getting a new job feels impossible now because there is so much competition;
  • 21% felt scared that their skills and training are no longer useful.

However, the responses also indicate a motivation among young people to fight for a better future for their generation, with 78% remaining hopeful for a better year ahead.

To read the report in full, click here.

Research conducted by Sharp has found that workers under the age of 30 are concerned that the recent shift to remote working could limit their career progression by reducing opportunities for skills training and learning from more experienced colleagues.

Of the 6000 workers across Europe surveyed, just over half expressed anxiety around issues such as a lack of training and opportunities, and keeping their skills up to date, with this feeling exacerbated in the under-30 demographic. 4 in 10 respondents under-30 stated that, despite remote working, employers should still offer upskilling and training opportunities. In addition, under-30s reported that remote working caused communication and motivation issues.

However, there were some positive aspects of remote working according to this demographic, including feeling more productive and effective.

For further information on the Sharp study (December 2020), see here.

A recent study from Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) (in collaboration with KPMG) has found that, for the first time in three months, there has been an increase in the demand for staff. Demand for both permanent and temporary placements have increased, with temporary places rising particularly steeply. The increase in permanent placements is thought to be driven by  increased market activity and greater confidence as a result of recent vaccine news, whilst temporary placements continue to surge due to continued uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. 

To read the report from the REC (January 2021) in full, click here.

A new study by Bupa, as part of their ‘Teen Minds: Living Through a Pandemic and Beyond’ campaign, records that 3 in 4 13-19 year olds have reported physical health issues related to poor mental health since March 2020 (4.12 million young people experienced symptoms of poor mental health, many for the first time, with 3.9 million manifesting as physical health issues).

The majority of young people felt pessimistic about their future, with concerns about academic achievement (73%) and job prospects (70%) after the pandemic are weighing on young people’s minds, particularly among 16-17 year olds.

In response to the concerns regarding mental health, Bupa has launched its Teen Minds campaign to support families and children with its mental health services, including a Family Mental HealthLine for health insurance customers.

To read Bupa’s (January 2021) report in full, visit their webpage here.

Recent research conducted by  OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), undertaken in 37 member countries, concludes that it is imperative that companies must make progress towards making the workforce more inclusive as more generations work side-by-side in the workplace. 

The report highlights the importance of creating an age-inclusive workforce, explaining that building multigenerational workforces could raise GDP per capita by 19% over the next 30 years. The study also suggests that such multigenerational workforces could increase productivity, create a stronger talent pipeline and improve resilience, workforce continuity, stability and the retention of know-how.

In order to promote an age-inclusive workforce, the OECD suggests:

• • Focussing on recruitment and retention strategies, ensuring that job opportunities are ‘age-proofed’ to attract talent from all age groups;
  • Maximising training and development;
  • Implementing flexible working options.

To see the full report from the OECD (December 2020), click here.

During 2020, the Learning and Work Institute’s Youth Commission produced a series of reports on young people and the impacts of COVID-19 on their skills,  education and employment. They warn that  around one million young people could be locked out of education, employment and training as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The concluding report, published in December, provides an overview of their findings, and a ‘blueprint for change’, making an urgent call to action to tackle the youth unemployment crisis. It calls for further progress in young people’s education, setting an ambition for 90% of young people to have a Level 2 qualification by age 25, and 75% a Level 3, and for a £4.6 billion ten-year strategy for youth unemployment. 

To read the full report from the Learning and Work Institute (December 2020), click HERE.

New research conducted by the NUS, that surveyed over 4000 young people, has found that more than 50% of students felt their mental health had declined since March this year. However, only 29% of those have sought mental health support. Loneliness and isolation appear to be having a significant impact on young people and their mental health. When asked what support they would like/need, respondents listed ‘access to a councillor’ and ‘someone to talk to’ as key needs.

To see more on this research, click HERE.

Research conducted by Institute of Student Employers (ISE) and Debut in June-July 2020 has recorded that the disruption caused by Covid-19 has caused over half of students to say that their ideas about their future careers have changed since the start of the pandemic. In addition, less than half expressed feeling confident about finding the job that they wanted quickly after leaving education.

The report showed that young jobseekers remain positive and proactive in career planning, but the current employment climate is causing concern. It also reported that working in an organisation that treats them fairly, has interesting work and  access to  training and development were top priorities for those surveyed. A key takeaway from this report for employers was that respondents disagreed with the idea of employers encroaching on more personal forms of social media such as blogs, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to communicate with them, instead preferring email and LinkedIn.

To read the report in full, click HERE.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released the datasets for the Labour Market Overview and NEET (not in employment, education or training) data for the July-September 2020 period. The data shows that the youth unemployment rate is increasing (now at 14.6%, was 11.8% last quarter), but that there is also an increase in young people choosing to enter/stay in full-time education.

The key headlines from both datasets are recorded below:

Youth Unemployment – Labour Market Overview

• Unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds is 14.6%;
• One-third of all unemployed young people in July-September 2020, were in full time education;
• The economic inactivity rate for young people is 39.9% – nearly 80% of young people who are economically inactive are in full-time education;
• 120% increase from March 2020 to October in the number of 18-24 year olds claiming unemployment related benefits;
• Young people were more likely to be furloughed at some point between March and July 2020 – 47% of eligible jobs held by young people were furloughed at some point, compared to 29% of jobs held by those aged 25 or over.

NEET Reporting

• Lowest recorded level of NEET 16-24 year old in the UK (757,000)
  • This is partially due to a large increase in the proportion of young people in full-time education in recent quarters
• A record low of economically inactive young people who were NEET
  • 413,000 July-September 2020, down by 70,000 from July-September 2019, and down by 58,000 from April-June 2020
• However, there were more unemployed young people who had been actively seeking work within the last four weeks, and able to start within the next two weeks
  • 344,000 July-September 2020, up by 27,000 from the same period in 2019 (and up by 46,000 from April-June 2020).

See the ONS Labour Market Overview dataset analysis HERE, and the ONS NEET Reporting data analysis HERE.