Home Publications Summer Jobs Programme: Feasibility Study Report

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Authors

Emma Forsyth, Trisha Harjani, Callum O’Mahony, Andrés Cueto, Clare Tanton, Tom McBride (The Ending Youth Violence Lab)

Overview

Existing research indicates summer employment programmes can have positive impacts on education outcomes and personal development for young people. Indirectly, such programmes may also have positive impacts on youth employment outcomes over the longer term.

To understand more, we co-commissioned a feasibility study of UK Youth’s Summer Jobs Programme with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Youth Endowment Fund, conducted by the Ending Youth Violence Lab.

What is the Summer Jobs Programme?

Read more about What is the Summer Jobs Programme?

Based on the Summer Youth Employment Program model previously tested in several large cities in the United States, the six-week programme offers young people:

  • one week of paid pre-employment training, covering goal-setting, workplace skills and CV writing
  • five weeks of paid employment, with in-work support and three check-ins with a youth worker
  • a recommendation letter and programme graduation celebration

In summer 2024, the programme was delivered to 430 young people aged 16 to 24 across London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands who were at risk of involvement in violence.

Young people were referred to the programme by a range of agencies, including violence reduction units, pupil referral units, youth justice services, job centres and local authorities.

The participants were paid the national minimum wage, in addition to a £5 per day access fund. Costs were supported by the programme, with 10% of employers paying a small contribution.

Participating employers received a three-hour pre-placement training session.

 

The study looked at:

  • The delivery partners’ ability to recruit and retain young people
  • The participating employers’ ability to deliver the programme
  • How the programme was perceived by stakeholders
  • The programme’s suitability for a randomised controlled trial

The report details the study, key insights and next steps.

Methodology

Read more about Methodology

Evaluators used a mixed-methods approach, analysing:

  • Pre and post surveys completed at baseline and endline by participating young people which included the New Philanthropy Capital Journey to Employment framework, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Self-reported delinquency scale.
  • A short programme satisfaction survey completed by participating young people, employer partners, and the programme’s local delivery partners.
  • Administrative data.
  • 43 interviews and four focus groups with young people, youth workers, local delivery partner managers, referrers and employers.

Key insights

Overall, the programme is ready to be evaluated. There was sufficient demand for the programme and the conditions necessary for the successful completion of a randomised controlled trial were broadly met.

The programme successfully recruited and retained participants

Read more about The programme successfully recruited and retained participants

Recruitment and retention goals were met or exceeded:

  • 623 young people registered for the programme (target 600)
  • 540 young people completed baseline data collection – 87% of total registrations
  • 511 young people were offered a placement – 82% of total registrations
  • 430 young people (84%) who were offered a placement accepted it (target = 80%)
  • 35% of placements were with non-local delivery partner third sector organisations,
  • 32% were placements within the local delivery partner organisations
  • 32% were placements in the private sector (including fast-food chains, sports companies, and the creative and retail industries)
  • 86% of participating young people completed 80% of training, 60% of placement hours, and 100% of youth worker check-ins (80% target).

Participants reported that payment, youth worker support and the preparation week supported their sustained engagement.

Barriers to recruitment and retention included:

  • young people not responding to initial contact from the local delivery partners
  • challenges securing placements in some areas
  • long community times or unsuitability of placements offered
  • young people finding alternative employment before or during the programme

One limitation of the study is the relatively low response rate to the outcomes survey, with only 59% of young people completing 75% or more of the questions.

The programme recruited young people at risk of involvement in violence

Read more about The programme recruited young people at risk of involvement in violence

All participating young people had one or more risk factors associated with involvement in violence.

For example:

  • 21% of participating young people had a social worker
  • 13% of participating young people had previously been excluded from school.
  • The programme was perceived positively
  • 95% of young people and 86% of youth workers surveyed approved of the programme (target 80%)
  • 80% of employers surveyed approved of the programme (target 80%), and 79% agreed or strongly agreed that the young person added positive value to the team.
  • 86% of surveyed approved of the programme (target 80%)

Qualitative feedback about the pre-programme employer training was mixed

Read more about Qualitative feedback about the pre-programme employer training was mixed

Where it was received less positively, employers suggested a longer lead-in time for the programme and more information about the young people so they could adequately prepare.

There were some inconsistencies found across delivery areas

Read more about There were some inconsistencies found across delivery areas

Specifically:

  • Type and quality of in-work and wraparound support
  • Awareness of, access to and use of the £5 per day access fund
  • Type, quantity and quality of work provided by employers

These challenges resulted in a more negative reported experience for participants.

Recommendations

Future delivery should:

  1. Amend eligibility criteria and prioritise referrals from external agencies to ensure the most in-need young people can benefit.
  2. Narrow the age range from 16-24 to 16-20 to reach those with least labour market experience and highest potential to be diverted from youth violence.
  3. Increase support for employers offering placements by expanding the employer training curriculum to cover topics related to workplace needs of vulnerable young people and effective approaches to welcoming and supporting them for the duration of their placement.
  4. Adapt endline outcome surveys to the needs of vulnerable young people to encourage higher response rates.

Next steps

As there is sufficient demand to reach the required scale, we are proceeding with a pilot randomised controlled trial of the Summer Jobs Programme.

The programme design and delivery for the pilot RCT will be informed by learnings and insights from the feasibility report and will explore whether key trial design features work in practice. These include randomisation and outcomes measurement using large administrative datasets.

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