Unlocking potential: building the evidence base for young people with experience of the criminal justice system

In this blog, we hear from our Senior Employer Engagement Manager, Kate Carr, and Dr Hannah King, Policy Fellow from Durham University, on the importance of building evidence to change employment outcomes for young people with experience of the criminal justice system.

Supporting young people into work and improving employment outcomes for people with experience of the criminal justice system are both priorities for the UK Government. Despite sitting at the intersection of these two major areas of focus, a deeper understanding of the specific barriers to work faced by young people with criminal justice experience – and the solutions to overcoming them – is needed.

The data gap

Young people with experience of the criminal justice system remain largely absent from national data and analysis. While we have headline figures on convictions, custody and reoffending, we do not have a clear picture of how many young people are affected, or how their involvement with the justice system intersects with their experience of the education and employment systems. This limits the potential for informed, effective systems change across policy, employer practice, and targeted support.

What we do know – and what we don’t

The evidence we do have points to significant labour‑market disadvantage for both young people, and those with experience of the justice system. People with criminal justice experience face persistently poor employment outcomes: only 19.3% of people are in work six weeks after leaving custody, rising to just 31.1% at six months, and employment rates remain substantially below those of the general population (Ministry of Justice, 2025).

Alongside this, youth unemployment and economic inactivity remain entrenched challenges. Young people are more likely than older adults to be unemployed or not in education, employment or training, and evidence shows that those facing multiple forms of disadvantage are at significantly higher risk of becoming NEET.

There is strong evidence that people facing multiple forms of disadvantage are disproportionately represented within both the youth justice and the adult criminal justice system. Data shows that adults from ethnically diverse backgrounds, with a learning disability, or with experience of the care system make up a larger share of the prison population than in the general population. Over 40% of people in prison were expelled from school, almost half have no qualifications, and two thirds were unemployed in the four weeks before entering custody.

Minimal data exists on the background and experiences of young adults (aged 18-24) in prison, but a recent prison inspectorate report concluded that outcomes remain poor for young adults compared to those aged over 25. We do not have robust youth-specific data about what happens when young people leave prison, but it is likely that they are at a higher risk of experiencing poor labour market outcomes and becoming long-term NEET.

Estimates suggest that one in four working age people in the UK have a criminal record. This matters because the existence of a criminal record is itself a significant barrier to work – with one in five employers saying they would automatically exclude a candidate who discloses a conviction. For many young people, this barrier is likely to sit alongside additional challenges relating to stigma and negative perceptions, self-confidence, disrupted education, a lack of work experience, mental health, learning needs and access to networks and support. It is the cumulative effect of these overlapping barriers that makes young people with criminal justice experience particularly vulnerable to exclusion from work and underlines the need for a stronger evidence base on what works to support them.

What we are doing to address the evidence gap

As the What Works Centre for youth employment, our role at Youth Futures Foundation is to build and share robust evidence about what supports young people facing the greatest challenges to access and thrive in good work. Young people with experience of the criminal justice system are a critical yet underexplored part of that picture. We are working to strengthen the evidence base for this group – moving beyond assumptions to better understand the specific barriers they face and the interventions that can make a meaningful difference.

Current activity includes our evaluation of Pre-employment Vocational Training, exploring the impact of this intervention for young people with experience of the criminal justice system.

We know that employers will also play a vital role in changing the system for young people with experience of the criminal justice system. If you are an employer willing to share insight, test approaches, or help shape evidence‑led solutions, we want to work with you. Building the evidence together is the first step towards unlocking opportunity – for young people, employers and the wider economy.