Policy: Government proposals evaluated in think-tank

The Institute for Public Policy Research report, due to be published in September, will look at the transition of young people to adulthood.

It will look at the assumptions that underpin current policies and the reasons why attempts to tackle teenage pregnancy, antisocial behaviour, truancy, drug taking and alcohol abuse have not worked as well as hoped.

It will also address some of the flaws in policies towards young people, examine how young people live now and propose new policy tools.

Julia Margo, a research fellow at the think-tank, said the project was a "fundamental rethink of policy". "Our premise is that there have been demographic and social changes post-war that have affected the experience of childhood and adolescence, and that policy has not got to grips with," she said. "Some do not continue education, and enter the labour market early to poor jobs and poor prospects."