Role of Youth Work in Addressing the Needs of Young People Not in Education, Employment

Role of Youth Work in addressing the needs of Young People not in education, employment or training

March 2013

Executive Summary

This paper sets out the case for the development of a national programme to address the needs of the most marginalized young jobseekers not in “education, employment or training” i.e. (NEETS). The programme would be led nationally by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and NYCI and would be delivered locally by the youth sector in partnership with key stakeholders. The proposal would address a gap in provision for NEETs and complement existing further education, employment policies and form a key strand within the proposed Youth Guarantee. We propose that €20m per annum over the period 2014-2020 be allocated to the programme funded by the Irish Government and the EU “Youth Employment Initiative”.

Background

Young people have been hit hard by the economic downturn, particularly with regard to employment. The number of young people (under 25) in the labour force almost halved from 250,000 in 2008 to 132,000 in Q1 2012[1]. While the numbers of young people on the live register has come down from 94,550 in August 2010[2] to 68,343[3] in January 2013, the number of long term unemployed young people has grown. The number of young jobseekers on the live register for 12 months or more increased from 39% of the total number in January 2011[4] to 49% in October 2012.[5]Likewise the number of young people on the live register for 2 years or more has increased from 11,895 in January 2011 to 17,208 in October 2012.

Young people not in education, employment and training

The percentage of young people in Ireland in the “NEET” category (young people not in education, employment and training) is 18.4%; this is the 4th highest in the EU where the average is 12.9%[6]. While NEETs are not a homogeneous group, Eurofound[7] has identified a number of factors which increase the possibility of a young person becoming a NEET. These include;

Low educational attainment

Low household income

Living in a remote area

Difficult family environment

Immigrant background

Having a disability

Many young people may fall into more than one of these categories.

The Scottish Strategy for NEETs “More Choices More Chances”[8], helpfully categorised the NEET groups as follows;

• The hardest to help young people – with complex needs which are often clearly defined and

which require intensive levels of support.

• An ‘intermediate’ group of young people – less likely to be on the radar in terms of other

more specialist or targeted interventions. This group may be ‘quietly disaffected’ and commonly

have issues around motivation, confidence and soft skills. Less intensive, appropriately tailored

support and interventions could make a massive difference to their outcomes on leaving school.

• The ‘transition/gap year’ group – includes young people taking time out before progressing

to a further or higher education opportunity; or in voluntary or part-time work.19 This group –

although captured in the headline NEET figure – have a benign experience of NEET.

Meeting the NEETs challenge means providing the intensive supports required by the hardest to help young people, but it also means providing appropriate supports and opportunities for those most at risk of becoming NEETs by encouraging them to remain in school.

The Eurofound study showed that those with a low level of education were three times more likely to fall into the NEET category than those with tertiary education. This is borne out in Ireland with the data from the 2011 census[9] indicating that young people with limited formal education were at much higher risk of unemployment. The levels of youth unemployment were as follows;

18% among young third level graduates

39% among those educated to leaving certificate

65% among those educated to junior certificate

70% among those educated to primary level

Given that low educational attainment is a key characteristic of this group, evidence suggests that participating in education and training, rather than employment in jobs without training, is the most effective way of enabling this group of young people to access and sustain employment opportunities throughout their adult life.

The experience of our member organisations working with young people with limited education indicates that many have a complex range of issues such as literacy and numeracy difficulties, substance misuse, health problems, low levels of confidence and self esteem. They need support to address these issues, otherwise they will find it challenging to engage with and be retained in the further education and public employment services provided by the Department of Social Protection.

Another relevant finding in the Eurofound study was that NEETs had lower levels of both interpersonal and institutional trust when compared with non NEETs. They were less likely to believe that other people could be trusted, would be fair and helpful and less likely to trust institutions such as the political system, government and the police. This is significant with regard to developing policies and programmes to engage with and support young people in this category as they are unlikely to engage proactively with public institutions if they distrust them.

Lack of education, training and work experience places

The first major issue for NEETs is the overall inadequacy of education, training and work experience places. Since the onset of the crisis there has increased pressure on further education and training provision as demand for places from jobseekers has far outstripped the supply. The previous and current Government did initiate a number of new programmes such as Springboard and JobBridge to provide more opportunities for jobseekers and also by expanding the number of new places on existing schemes. NYCI has undertaken an analysis of the numbers of young jobseekers on the various schemes. See details below.

Education, Training and Work Experience Places

Scheme* / No of places / No of participants
under 25 / % participants
under 25
Youthreach / 5521 / 5521 / 100
VTOS / 5651 / 945 / 16.7
BTEI / 32320 / 4835 / 15
PLC / 35609 / 24683 / 69
Springboard / 5875 / 370 / 6.3
JobBridge / 14890 / 4173 / 29
CE / 22548 / 354 / 1.5
Tus / 4446 / 549 / 12.3
BTWEA / 10810 / 312 / 2.9
BTEA / 24914 / 6585 / 26.4
LTI / 2136 / 1015 / 47.5
Momentum / 6500 / No data yet new programme / No data yet

*see annex 2 for abbreviations

New schemes such as Springboard and JobBridge are seen as being targeted at young jobseekers, however the data indicates otherwise. The number of young jobseekers on schemes like Springboard is low at 6% while the qualifying criteria for the Back to Education Scheme results in only 15% of participants on that programme being under 25. Likewise the percentage of participants under 25 on the internship programme Jobbridge is 29% despite the perception that it is primarily designed and targeted at young jobseekers, with only 24% of the young participants previously being long term unemployed.

The numbers on Youthreach which is a second chance education and training programme for early school leavers aged 15-20 has remained static at around 6,000 at a time when demand has increased substantially. Many Youthreach centres around the country have long waiting lists. Other schemes such as the Local Training Initiative do cater more for the under 25s but the overall number of places remain low at just over 2,000. The only programme with significant numbers of young people, indeed over half the places available is the Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) which as the name suggests is only for those who have completed a leaving certificate and this therefore excludes many of the young people in the NEET category.

Lack of provision for NEETs

As well as the overall lack of provision and places for young jobseekers in general, there is a lack of tailored provision for NEETs. With demand for places so high young people with no or limited qualifications who are at greater risk of long term unemployment have “been pushed to the back of the queue. Many of the new schemes and programmes are designed for those who are easier to reach, closer to the labour market and who already have qualifications. We would also be of the view that many young people who are drifting into long term unemployment require more intensive and longer term interventions to enable them to access the existing schemes and programmes.In some cases they may distrust or be disenfranchised from the formal education or public employment system because of previous experience. They may also have lost hope given their experience of job hunting to date. Some given their experience and challenges they face are not ready for general further education and training programmes.

National Policy and Programme

In their report on NEETS, Eurofound[10] state that “policy measures have to be diversified, tackling different issues along the pathway to employment and paying attention to vulnerable groups that are more likely to cumulate multiple disadvantages”. As of now Ireland lacks a comprehensive approach to address the needs of the most vulnerable young people on the live register. Without a tailored intervention these young people will remain in or drift into periods of long term unemployment. We propose a programme which is nationally led but locally delivered by the youth sector in partnership with others to address the distinct needs of NEETs. We believe such a programme can complement the existing job creation, employment and training actions of the Government. A discreet and different approach is required to support NEETs to engage with the existing public employment and training system and to have the confidence to believe they can progress into the labour market. The youth work sector is not primarily a training provider or an employment service and does not seek to be or to duplicate existing provision. This proposal is solely concerned with a significant cohort of young people who are on the margins and without some intervention will remain there. We believe that the youth sector is well placed to take a lead in this regard and to provide “the bridge” between young jobseekers and the training and public employment system and the existing suite of options that are currently available.

Sharp focus

A key issue in developing such as a scheme is ensuring that it meets the needs of those who are most in danger of being left on the margins given the pressures on the further education and public employment system, i.e. the hard to reach. All the evidence from the other programmes is that unless there is a sharp focus on “the hard to reach” then they will be left behind again. In that regard some clear criteria would have to be established but could include young people whose educational qualifications are to lower secondary or less, have been unemployed for 12 months or more and have not previously undertaken a further education and training course.

Youth Guarantee

A national policy and programme to address the needs of NEETs is an integral part of the implementation strategy for a Youth Guarantee in Ireland. NYCI was among the first to recommend examination of the introduction of a “Youth Guarantee” scheme in Ireland in our position paper on youth unemployment “Creating a Future for Young Jobseekers”[11] in March 2011. We welcome the support of the Irish Government for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee and for making it a priority of the Irish Presidency. The decision last month of the EU Council of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers to formally adopt a recommendation on the Youth Guarantee is another important step forward. This recommendation in particular notes the need for “outreach strategies towards young people, especially the most vulnerable ones; and acknowledges the role of the youth sector. This recommendation follows the allocation of €6bn in the multi-annual financial framework for 2014-2020 towards the “Youth Employment Initiative” fund. All regions with a youth unemployment level of 25% or more will qualify for funding. While Eurofound[12] noted that while the Youth Guarantee in Sweden and Finland is generally successful they found it was less so with “deeply entrenched and hard-to-help unemployed groups”.They argue that if a youth guarantee is to work with the most vulnerable jobseekers “it needs to be based on a strong collaborative approach with a range of stakeholders involved in providing services to youth”This clearly demonstrates the need for a specific programme and funding within the Youth Guarantee for NEETs.

Why Youth Work?

The 2001 Youth Work Act defines youth work as “a planned programme of education designed for the purpose of aiding and enhancing the personal and social development of young people through their voluntary participation”[13] Youth work practice is based on some key principles, such as the voluntary participation of young people, starting where the young person is at and on partnership and mutual respect between the young people and adult youth worker.

The purpose of youth work includes the following which are invaluable in job hunting and in the world of work;

• Build the self-esteem and confidence of young people
• Equip young people with valuable life skills (soft skills)
• Build resilience, such as the ability to deal with the ups and downs of life
• Support young people to make informed choices and decisions

Youth work and youth workers have the capacity to engage with marginalized and excluded young people, many are already doing so with limited resources and in circumstances where they are addressing other needs. They won’t wait for young people to come to youth centres or facilities, many have and already engage in outreach work to meet the young people on their own turf. They also have considerable experience of providing the much needed one to one support for this group of young people. If the resources were available and the objectives and outcomes were clear and achievable, youth organisations could develop and deliver programmes to support NEETs who are either not engaging with or feel alienated from the existing education and public employment system expanding choices and learning options for young people by focusing on sustainable outcomes and progression

The understanding and skills of the adults working effectively together with the NEET group at the front line are probably the most influential factors in determining positive outcomes for this group. Evidence highlights the importance of having the right people delivering services to this group of young people.Various studies have highlighted the importance of vulnerable young people having access to a trusted adult to give them one to one support, to advocate on their behalf, to enable them to access the services they need to progress, to have expectations of them and to offer some element of challenge to help them move on in their lives.

Youth Work Sector in Ireland

As Indecon noted the youth sector in Ireland “is substantial in terms of scale and reach”[14] with almost 383,000 young people aged 10-24 or 43.3% of this age cohort participating and benefitting from youth work. They also found that 53.3% of participants were socially and economically disadvantaged. This demonstrates that the youth sector has the organisational capacity to play a significant role in supporting marginalized young jobseekers. As outlined in the Eurofound study NEETs are less likely to trust other people and the institutions of the state.

Given its track record at local level the youth sector is well placed to engage with young people, their families and communities who may feel disenfranchised from state agencies and institutionsand to build the necessary trust and confidence. The youth sector makes an invaluable contribution to working with young people and improving their life chances both directly through the programmes and services it provides and whilst the youth sector alone is not a panacea for dealing with the NEETs category, however with clear objectives, defined outcomes in mind and sufficient resources the sector has the capacity to make a significant contribution to support a group which is in danger of being left behind in public policy. The youth sector also has an important role to share with other sectors and organisations their experiences of working with this group of young people.

The Proposal-National Level

At a national level we propose the development of a policy and programme ledby the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and NYCI and delivered in partnership with the youth sector to engage with and support the progression of young people “not in education, employment and training” who are long term unemployed or at risk of drifting into long term unemployment. The national programme would be overseen by a national high level steering group comprising of DCYA and NYCI and other key statutory, youth, community, business and trade union stakeholders. The steering group would determine the overall parameters, including key issues such as outcomes, objectives, budgets, evaluation and dissemination of best practice.

The Proposal-Local Level