Opinion: Young people are not a lost generation – they need better access to the opportunities they deserve

Following projections that the number of young people out of work or training in UK could hit 1.25m by early 2030s, Professor Ian Dunn, Provost of Coventry University Group, explores how new models of education, skills and workplace training can support more young people to develop into sustainable employment opportunities.

Young people are our leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals of the future and their academic and professional success will influence the UK’s competitiveness and prosperity in the years to come. Yet while investing in their futures should be among our highest national priorities, many believe that education, employment and training opportunities are becoming too difficult to access.

Their early formative years were carved by far more instability than stability. The pandemic disrupted education and limited opportunities to gain early work experience, while the effects of economic stagnation and a prolonged cost-of-living crisis have followed them into adulthood. Both these challenges are now feeding into a labour market in which traditional early-career and graduate roles are being the hardest hit.

It is, without question, an extraordinarily challenging time to be a young person in the UK. But rather than planting a label on young people as a “lost generation”, the focus should be on confronting the systemic shortcomings that are having adverse effects on their prospects. I remain enormously encouraged in pretty much every conversation that I have with young people. It is time for the doomsayers to both talk positively about our young people and to get on and bring about the change that will help them to liberate their potential.

Higher education providers should be moving into cold spots - not pushed to retreat from them

Young people must believe that hard work and investment in their education will lead to opportunity. This is why universities continue to invest in teaching, student support and employer partnerships to help young people realise their aspirations, but they are doing so while navigating financial challenges of their own.

Rising costs and policy changes are forcing institutions to make difficult decisions. Universities cannot continue to absorb rising costs indefinitely, nor should those costs be transferred onto students, leading many to close courses and campuses in certain regions, reducing the areas in which higher education provision is available.

At the very time the country should be tackling higher education cold spots, some universities are being forced to retreat from them, deteriorating social mobility and risking making the whole situation worse. There is mounting evidence to show that proximity to higher education can influence participation, while young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are two-thirds more likely to not be in education, employment or training (NEET) than their more advantaged peers. And even among those who can attend university, more than 40% have considered dropping out due to money worries.

We must not allow a forced reduction in access to higher education while also questioning why young people aren’t attending. Sustained investment and new models are needed in local higher education provision and a funding system that recognises both the public and personal benefits of higher learning. And yet, these entry and access obstacles do not begin and end with education. They are following young people into the labour market and further narrowing the opportunities available to them at the very start of their working lives.

Incentivising businesses to recruit young people

Businesses in the UK are reducing hiring at the fastest rate in four years, with employment falling at the steepest pace since the pandemic and workforce numbers expected to decline by a further 0.5% over the next 12 months. Rising costs and economic precarity have made employers more cautious, particularly when it comes to hiring entry-level and graduate roles, which are often viewed as more discretionary investment in future talent rather than positions required to meet immediate business needs and have therefore been among the first to be scaled back.

The same can be said about apprenticeships. Despite the recent £725 million investment into the apprenticeship system, starts among young people have fallen by 35% over the past decade, while the proportion of apprenticeships undertaken by people under the age of 25 continues to decline. This circles back to cost and capacity, with businesses reporting that administration and upfront costs associated with taken on apprentices are making them difficult to justify.

Let us be clear that a strong, supported apprenticeship movement bringing education, skills and training together is powerful. The opportunity for the education system to be more experimental - to assess risk differently and to liberate potential is urgent. Businesses need to be supported by both the ‘system’ and education providers to offer apprenticeships and early-career opportunities by making recruitment both financially viable and operationally straightforward.

At present, too much of the perceived risk falls on employers. Options to reduce upfront costs and rebalance financial responsibility between the state, through a revised apprenticeship levy, and employers warrant consideration, alongside reforms to improve the pace of the apprenticeship system.

Joined-up programmes between employers and higher education institutions should also be expanded to offer internships and apprenticeships, providing young people with more opportunities to gain training and work experience and supporting their transition into employment. Education and skills are all part of the same equation.

A resilient generation

What is not being acknowledged enough is the resilience being instilled in our young people because of the challenges they continue to face. Around 40% of young people who are NEET are actively seeking education, training and employment opportunities. That tells us that young people are not disengaged; they want to learn, develop skills, work and contribute to their communities and wider society.

Calling this generation “lost” is selfish and ignorant, as the label risks encouraging the replacement of resilience with resignation, while diverting attention away from the systemic shortcomings that are driving these challenges onto young people. They reinforce the idea that opportunity is unattainable, rather than prompting the action needed to restore it.

The task ahead is not to define them, but to build new systems around them so education remains accessible, employment routes are open and investment in future talent is supported at every level. Only then can we create an environment in which young people are not held back by circumstance but empowered to contribute fully to the economy and society they will ultimately lead.