As the national What Works Centre for youth employment, our vision is a society where all young people have equitable access to good work.
With a specific focus on marginalised young people, we help build understanding of ‘what works’ for youth employment and apply those insights in practice.
By finding, generating and sharing high-quality evidence, we support employers to maximise the impact of investments and decisions, creating real change for both young people and organisations.
Learn more about us or get in touch with our employer engagement team for more information. You can also sign up to our newsletter below.
The challenge
One in eight young people in the UK are not in employment, education or training (NEET), and our recent survey of young people found that 48% have experienced prejudice or discrimination when seeking to enter the workplace.
Young people living with a disability, from ethnic minority groups, with experience of a mental health condition, or experience of the care or criminal justice systems face additional barriers to employment and are particularly affected by these challenges.
The opportunity
Recruiting and retaining a talented and diverse workforce is proven to be beneficial, with employers with more diverse teams seeing 36% better financial returns according to BITC’s Race at Work Survey 2021.
Reducing the NEET rate to that of the Netherlands, where only one in 20 young people are not in employment or education, we would not only ensure young people themselves are able to achieve a better future, it could also add £69 billion to the UK economy over the long term.
If employers can provide opportunities to listen to young people, they can ensure that they are given the respect and flexibility they need to bring their best selves to work – that’s going to make a huge difference for young people and their employers.”
Oscar, Chair of the Future Voices Group 2022-24
What the evidence says works
Launched in 2022 our Youth Employment Toolkit has identified that apprenticeships and on-the-job training could help young people gain and sustain good-quality jobs. Visit the Toolkit.
To build more evidence on what works for employer outcomes, we are running the first-of-their-kind Employer Trials. Find out how you can be part of this movement for change.
We are also looking to work with two Employer Engagement Partners to explore the challenges employers face in providing apprenticesips and design assets to support them. Discover more.
Who we work with
To help put evidence into action, we work in partnership with organisations that are able to influence employer action, utilising existing evidence and testing and trialing new approaches to find and keep untapped talent.
Our Employer Advisory Board convenes a dedicated and diverse group of employers to share best practice and help make equal job prospects a reality for all young people.
DFN Project Search
DFN Project Search
Bridging the Gap will challenge the misconceptions, lack of knowledge, and understanding across society about what young adults with a learning disability can achieve when supported in the right way. DFN will seek to understand the key barriers to employment (particularly within the private sector), what needs to change, explore what inclusive recruitment looks like and what support is needed to deliver it. DFN will develop our data and insight, sharing findings with our network to improve best practice and influence policy to remove the barriers to employment for these young people.
Workwhile
Workwhile
Workwhile is a not-for-profit initiative, currently incubated and hosted the IPPR (the Institute for Public Policy Research). They exist to support employers to create more good work and to ensure everyone can access it – addressing inequity in access to good work. Apprenticeship creation is at the heart of their work, and since 2020 they have created over 1,750 apprenticeships for disadvantaged and marginalised Londoners. The Infrastructure grant from Youth Futures Foundation is enabling Workwhile to create 1,000 apprenticeships for disadvantaged and marginalised young people in London, including supporting its mission-driven levy transfer brokerage service which ensures that apprenticeship levy funds reach the businesses and individuals where it is most needed. In addition, the funding is supporting a pilot programme of training for apprentices’ line managers – DevelopMentor – and enhancing Workwhile’s knowledge sharing activities across its extensive networks.
Youth Employment UK
Youth Employment UK
This project will establish how Youth Employment UK’s existing Youth Friendly Employment Framework, endorsed by Goldsmiths, University of London, can be built upon. It will also provide a data collection and analysis infrastructure through which evidence can be gathered on employer practice with respect to youth employment.
Applications are open for:
“Developing a more detailed picture of what really works for both employers and employees, through generating high-quality evidence, we can enable informed decision making that creates real change for young people.’
Barry Fletcher, CEO, Youth Futures Foundation
“It is important that employers are fit for the future of our ever-changing workforce. Youth Futures Foundation is a key partner in achieving this goal by helping to turn important evidence into action to unlock the incredible potential of our young people.”
Claire Camara, Global Chief People Officer at EssenceMediacom
Useful resources
Our free and interactive online tools are designed to help employers access and make use of the latest youth employment data and research:
Youth Employment Toolkit
Summarising current international evidence on the impact, cost and effectiveness of common interventions used to help young people get into work.
Our Toolkit Uwrapped series cuts through the complexity to bring this evidence to life for employers.
Data Dashboard
Collating official statistics on the labour market, NEET rates, consumer prices index and vacancies to provide up-to-date national and localised information and data visualisations.
Key reports
Risk factors for becoming NEET
Discrimination and work
Youth Employment Outlook 2024
Bringing together the latest data and evidence on the youth employment landscape to inform effective action
Annual Review 2023
Workplace examples
Explore the ways employers are currently approaching youth employment in practice
Amazon
Intern Wayne, Operations Manager Stephen Day, and Workforce Community Engagement Project Manager Olivia Grimsley, discuss the company’s Supported Internship Programme.
HMRC
Intern Harry, programme lead Tracy Etherson and job coach Abbigail Wade share how the government department is supporting young people with special educational needs or autism into work.
N Family Club
Sophie Hayter, Senior Talent Development Partner, details the organisation’s approach to recruiting and retaining talent, including its apprenticeship programme.
Young Person’s Guarantee
Proposed by the Youth Employment Group, a national coalition of experts, the Young Person’s Guarantee is a commitment that all young people under 25 will receive support to access employment, training, or education within four months of leaving employment or formal education.
Latest
The government announce changes to how the minimum wage is determined
The government has announced that it is changing how the minimum wage is determined, to better reflect the cost of living. The Low Pay Commission will now consider this factor when setting the rates. In the announcement, they also set out their aims to reduce the wage...
Our response to today’s announcements delivered by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Our CEO, Barry Fletcher, responds to the promising announcements delivered by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions “We’re pleased to hear about the Government’s plan to boost employment in a speech made by Liz Kendall today. With the youth unemployment rate at...
Expand ‘Sure Start for youth employment’ to tackle rapid rise in young people out of work, think tank urges government
Youth Employment Hubs should be central to government’s plans to reduce the number of NEET young people according to a report from Demos.
Our response to the King’s Speech
Youth Futures Foundation has responded to the King’s Speech which took place today (Wednesday 17 July 2024). The scale of the challenge for young people today is evident – 900,000 young people, or 1 in 8, are not in education, employment or training (NEET) and many...
Supporting young people with a learning disability or autism into employment
Exploring the current landscape of employment support in England, promising interventions and key areas for improvements.
Our CEO, Barry Fletcher, responds to the Spring Budget
Three evidence-based recommendations for Government to help tackle the youth employment challenge and support all young people
