Young people not planning to follow in parents’ footsteps

New research has revealed that young people are not planning to take the same path as their parents because their jobs are too boring and do not pay enough money.

That is according to the findings of London First who surveyed nearly 1,000 young Londoners aged 15-18 found that when deciding their future path into work. The research found that young people are taking advice from traditional sources – mainly parents (70 per cent), school (68 per cent), careers websites (40 per cent), friends (30 per cent) – but also from social media (19 per cent) and celebrities (eight per cent).

With the majority not planning to take the same path as their parents because their jobs are too boring (46 per cent) and do not pay enough money (33 per cent), London First also claim that 47 per cent of youngsters had no direct experience of the world of work.    

For those who could not see a clear path between where they are now and the work they would like to do in the future (41 per cent), not knowing anyone who works in the area that they could talk to was cited as the biggest barrier. Unsurprisingly, university was the next step most commonly discussed with pupil’s school or college (86 per cent), although apprenticeships were not far behind (67 per cent).

Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of London First, said: “It’s important that young people get as much exposure to as wide a variety of careers as possible. University is an important route, but businesses and employers can do much more to build the esteem around other, non-academic options and to showcase the range of choices out there.

“Firms face a chronic skills shortage in this country, and it is vital that we get the pupils of today ready for the workforce of tomorrow. Events like Skills London, with tens of thousands of opportunities available, are a fantastic way to showcase the multiple avenues that school leavers can explore.”