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Young People: Unemployment

Answer

Official estimates of the number and proportion of young people of academic age 16 to 18¹ who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are published by the Department in a Statistical First Release (SFR) each June and can be found on the Department's website:"http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000849/index.shtml"Estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) of the number and proportion of people of academic age 16 to 24 who were NEET in each region in England in each of the last eight quarters are shown in the following tables.

	Q4 2007	Q1 2008	Q2 2008	Q3 2008
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
North East	49,000	15	52,000	16	56,000	17	65,000	20
North West	120,000	14	136,000	16	139,000	16	151,000	18
Yorkshire and Humberside	82,000	12	75,000	11	101,000	15	119,000	18
East Midlands	70,000	13	69,000	13	71,000	13	86,000	16
West Midlands	93,000	15	95,000	15	98,000	16	119,000	19
East of England	74,000	12	87,000	14	77,000	13	82,000	13
London	123,000	14	129,000	15	132,000	15	149,000	16
South East	116,000	13	104,000	12	111,000	12	131,000	14
South West	56,000	10	63,000	11	55,000	10	71,000	13
England	782,000	13	810,000	14	840,000	14	973,000	16

	Q4 2008	Q1 2009	Q2 2009	Q3 2009
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
North East	54,000	17	57,000	18	69,000	21	74,000	23
North West	142,000	17	156,000	18	155,000	18	183,000	21
Yorkshire and Humberside	92,000	14	107,000	16	121,000	19	126,000	19
East Midlands	68,000	13	69,000	13	75,000	14	90,000	17
West Midlands	105,000	16	126,000	20	131,000	21	123,000	19
East of England	79,000	13	83,000	14	82,000	13	92,000	15
London	131,000	15	127,000	14	120,000	13	164,000	17
South East	122,000	13	130,000	14	142,000	15	144,000	16
South West	63,000	11	78,000	14	66,000	12	86,000	16
England	857,000	14	935,000	16	959,000	16	1,082,000	18

Estimates from the Labour Force Survey and will include pregnant mothers, those caring for children or relatives, people with a disability or suffering from ill health, and those waiting for a course or job to start, including those on a gap year. It should also be noted that the estimates are subject to survey error, and should therefore be treated with caution. The 95 per cent. confidence interval for a regional estimate of NEET using the Labour Force Survey is typically around plus or minus 2-3 percentage points.We are committed to ensuring that young people NEET do not become a "lost generation" and have taken decisive action to strengthen existing provision and put in place new support, training and jobs for young people. Through the September Guarantee, we are offering all 16 and 17-year-olds a suitable place to continue in learning, and announced on 18 November plans to extend the Guarantee to 16 and 17-year-olds who are NEET in January. Budget 2009 announced the Young Person's Guarantee of a job, training or a place in the Community Task Force for 18 to 24-year-olds who are approaching 12 months on jobseeker's allowance. Already 95,000 jobs under the Future Jobs Fund have been approved and some young people have started work.In July, the Government launched 'Backing Young Britain' to bring together businesses, charities and Government to create opportunities for young people giving them a better start on the career ladder.By offering schemes such as volunteering, work experience and apprenticeships we will ensure that young people get the start they deserve to get on the career ladder."¹ Academic age refers to the age at the start of the academic year, 31 August."

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

506 c322-3W; 300822

Session

2009-10

Subjects

Young people Unemployment

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk