In their first few months in office, ministers have unveiled plans to guarantee young people access to training and work experience opportunities as part of a revised work and skills offer which also includes overhauling the much-maligned apprenticeship system for England so that more young people can access funding and placements.
Amid challenging economic conditions, the reforms come at a crucial time for youth employment with the number of young people not in education, employment and training (Neet) rising towards one million and more than three million 16-to 24-year-olds being economically inactive, a trend partly driven by the youth mental health crisis.
In addition to reforms in the pipeline, youth employment experts say more targeted support is needed for disadvantaged groups of young people such as those with special educational needs and disabilities. Developing stronger local and regional partnerships are also on the agenda as part of the drive for greater devolution of decision-making. This will require closer working between schools and colleges, local authorities and employers to ensure young people have access to a wide range of opportunities.
CYP Now's special report on youth employment summarises the scale of the challenges facing this area and looks in detail at key government reforms, sector experts assess what impact these measures could have and what more needs to be done, and spotlights four projects working with disadvantaged young people to help them onto the employment ladder.
Read more in CYP Now's Youth Employment Special Report:
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Key policy developments
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The big debate: How to tackle youth employment challenges
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Summary of key data on youth unemployment
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Expert advice: Evidence on how to tackle youth unemployment
Practice examples
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Bridging the gap to employment
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Connecting young people to employers
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Sport provides springboard to work
