Poorer pupils twice as likely not to be in education or work

Disadvantaged young people are twice as likely to not be in education, employment or training (NEET) than their better-off peers, a report by Impetus has shown.

Impetus' Youth Jobs Gap study analysed data for 3,486,000 young people who left state secondary schools between 2007 and 2012 in England.

Young people with a disadvantaged family background are 50% more likely to be NEET than better-off peers. This is true at all levels of qualification and regardless of age, and has not changed since 2010.

What’s more, even when young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have the equivalent qualifications to their better-off peers, they’re still 50% more likely to be out of education and employment in early adulthood.

A disadvantaged young person is about 50% more likely to be NEET in the North East compared to London. London has a very small gap between disadvantaged young people and their better-off  peers, driven by a low NEET rate for disadvantaged young people. By contrast, the North East has the highest NEET rate, driven in part by as many as one in three disadvantaged young people being NEET.

The report concludes that while improving education outcomes is a necessary, it is not enough to lower the disproportionately higher NEET rates of disadvantaged young people. Better local support for them and investment through youth employability services and careers advice are also very relevant.