THE HJI-REED ESSAY PRIZE ON MEASURES TO REDUCE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT:

SUMMARY OF PRIZE ENTRIES

SUMMARY OF PRIZE ENTRIES

INTRODUCTION
The HJI-Reed Youth Unemployment Essay Prize was launched in order to stimulate new debate about youth unemployment in the UK and to generate original proposals for its reduction. The HJI received over 650 entries for the prize from across the United Kingdom, demonstrating the strength of national feeling for this subject, and highlighting the multiple actions necessary to address the varied causes of youth unemployment. This briefing paper summarises solutions proposed by prize entrants and orders these chronologically, in line with the journey of a young person from school to employment, in order to give an overview of the debate amongst the 650 prize submissions. The briefing divides the ideas proposed by essayists into two sections, Work Readiness and Job Creation, and moves from supply side to demand side interventions. The first section on Work Readiness includes proposals on how to equip young people with the education, work experience, skills and careers guidance necessary to gain long-term employment. The second section, on Job Creation, addresses the incentives and entrepreneurship needed to ensure that jobs exist for young people. We are grateful to all who took part in this competition and hope the ideas presented in this overview support educators, businesses and policy-makers as they work towards the reduction of youth unemployment. In particular, we would like to thank all those prize entrants aged between 18 and 25 years who submitted essays and spoke movingly of their personal experiences of being unemployed and struggling to find work.

The Henry Jackson Initiative Team

SUMMARY OF PRIZE ENTRIES

SUMMARY OF PRIZE SUBMISSIONS

WORK READINESS
The mismatch between the present educational model and the needs of current and future job markets was the prevailing concern of essays that fell within this category. Essay writers expressed their fears of rising skills shortages across the UK, and focused on education reform to ensure that young people are equipped with the right skills to gain employment. In addition, essayists argued that the process of preparing young people for employment should be integrated within formal education more thoroughly and from an earlier age.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Many writers highlighted the need to increase literacy and numeracy standards for all school children. It was felt that without fundamental proficiency in Maths and English, a young person will struggle throughout their school career and will find it more difficult to access employment at a later stage. Essayists argued for the increased involvement of industry in primary education, to ensure the core curriculum prepares students to develop the skills required at advanced stages of education and by employers subsequently. Employee volunteering in schools was highlighted as a way to connect theoretical learning with real world application, enabling students to understand the broad implications of subject expertise and their educational choices from an early age. Many entrants felt that employee volunteering schemes should be rolled out across primary and secondary schools nationwide. Writers also stressed the need for educators and industry to liaise more effectively to impact the learning experience of key subject areas critical for the growth of future industries in the UK, notably Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). It was also felt that young peoples engagement in STEM learning should be emphasised from a younger age, with increased industry involvement to support teaching in these subjects to attract more students.

SECONDARY EDUCATION

The importance of STEM education was also highlighted at secondary level education. A number of writers argued for STEM subjects to be studied on an opt-out rather than an opt-in basis at both GCSE and A-level, thus elevating their status within the national curriculum. Other writers focused on alternative aspects of curriculum reform, recommending the introduction of business education for all students to give them training in disciplines relevant to the business environment, for example in marketing, accountancy and business development, and to give them a basic knowledge of how to start their own business. A few

SUMMARY OF PRIZE ENTRIES

essays suggested that a compulsory employability skills qualification should be introduced alongside core curriculum to demonstrate a basic standard of attainment to employers. Other essayists recommended that schools and colleges should be assessed on the employment rates of their students one, three and five years after finishing education, to compel education institutions to equip students with the right skills for work. An overwhelming number of essayists stressed the importance of employer engagement at secondary school level to increase the number of young people able to gain real work experience through internships and placements. Many writers identified a key problem that young people often lack the practical experience necessary to gain their first job, and find this to be true for jobs advertised as entry-level positions. Some of the young people who entered the competition expressed an added frustration that their lack of experience had barred them from applying for work experience even. While writers acknowledged that corporate work experience schemes do exist, with some employers also operating access schemes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, many felt that enhanced co-operation between the government and corporate providers of these schemes would enhance their impact and scale, thus increasing the professional development of young people.

VOCATIONAL PATHS TO EMPLOYMENT

The question of how to make education more vocational was a prevailing theme for many essayists. Some writers explored this by arguing for greater self-determination for young people when choosing the structure and form of their education. A number of essays suggested that young people should be allowed to pursue vocational paths from an earlier age, for example, starting their own businesses, undertaking extended work experience placements during the academic calendar, or commencing apprenticeships from 14 years. In addition, many essayists argued for an increased number of University Technical Colleges (UTCs) for 14 19 year olds. It was also recommended that young people should be able to finish formal education at a younger age than 16 years if they can prove they are in stable employment or are successfully running their own business, provided that they have attained key standards in literacy and numeracy or will work towards educational qualifications on a part-time basis. The debate over apprenticeships and vocational training often led to a discussion of university education and the stigmas attached to vocational paths into employment. Writers felt that industry leaders could themselves do more to promote vocational routes, for example, by changing the requirement of an undergraduate degree as basic eligibility criteria for appropriate entry-level positions. Essayists also commented on the need to ensure all apprenticeship programmes or alternative vocational routes offered genuine professional development.

UNIVERSITY

SUMMARY OF PRIZE ENTRIES

The debate over university education was impassioned and diverse: some essayists argued that current fee structures encouraged elitism, while others argued that increasing numbers of students entering higher education produces large numbers of graduates with general degrees that do not prepare them for employment. Several writers suggested that university degrees should have aspects of vocational learning in order to counter this latter problem.

CAREERS GUIDANCE AND MENTORING

A key concern for many of the essayists was the lack of advanced careers support available to young people to make informed choices about their futures. The greatest criticism of careers guidance was that it is typically delivered too late, is too generalised to be of use to individual learners, and lacks equality of provision across schools and colleges. Writers suggested a more integrated approach to the delivery of careers support, involving a coalition of parents, employers and teachers working from primary school level through higher education to inform young people about the variety of careers available to them. Essayists also argued for the involvement of industry to contribute analysis on jobs trends and employment growth, to ensure a vigorous connection between real world work opportunities and classroombased guidance. Several essays tackled the systemic challenge of better educating students about their careers options by supporting the creation of a government and industry-backed online portal offering advice on job sectors, functions and roles. Writers reflected that although multiple careers sites already exist, few are able to educate job-seekers effectively about their careers options or to provide practical advice. Prize entrants suggested that e-learning and social media should be used to engage young people to use the portal, and argued for industry interaction with the site through employee video testimonies and online mentoring. Many writers expressed their concern that the period between leaving formal education and entering the job market is one of the most insecure times in a young persons life. As a result, support targeted at this critical juncture, not least for young people who have been unemployed for a substantial period, was felt to be an important and largely unmet need. Mentoring was widely endorsed as a solution to this problem. A number of writers suggested that the UK should engage in a national recruitment drive to encourage experienced professionals to mentor young unemployed adults in a voluntary capacity. It was argued that only this kind of individually-tailored support could improve the professional decision-making of a young person and increase their confidence overall.

SUMMARY OF PRIZE ENTRIES

JOB CREATION
Writers reflected on the problem that many young people who are well skilled cannot find job vacancies, regardless of the time or effort they apply to finding a job. It was suggested that more should be done to incentivise businesses to create jobs for young people.

INCENTIVES TO HIRE YOUNG PEOPLE

A number of prize entrants recognised that it is difficult for businesses to employ young people who lack professional experience. As a result, writers argued that businesses should be financially incentivised to hire young people, thereby reducing the risks and training costs involved. The majority of suggestions focused on abolishing National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for employees aged between 16 24 years or extending an NICs holiday to businesses employing someone under the age of 25 years for a defined period of time. Some writers argued that young people themselves should be able to pay a lower rate of income tax until under the age of 25 years for a defined period of time. Many highlighted the critical role of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for job creation within the UK economy, and argued that any policy changes focused on encouraging SMEs to take on more young people would contribute significantly to a reduction in youth unemployment. Some essay writers recounted their personal experience as small business owners, working beyond capacity, yet discouraged from hiring new staff due to overly stringent employment regulations. Other essayists suggested the inclusion of a clause in all procurement contracts with national, regional or local government which would oblige any organisation awarded a contract to employ a certain number of young people. Many writers embraced youth entrepreneurship as a solution to job shortages and a way to reinvigorate the national economy. Various proposals were suggested to encourage entrepreneurship, including: allowing 15 25 year olds who establish their own businesses to pay no tax on earnings up to 15,000 p.a.; encouraging investors to work with more young people to support outstanding project ideas; allowing young people to take advantage of free office rental in some of the many uninhabited commercial units across the UK; and partnering successful entrepreneurs with aspiring young entrepreneurs.

SMEs

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

SUMMARY OF PRIZE ENTRIES

CONCLUSION
The overwhelming majority of essays the HJI received focused on the struggle of young people to make the transition from employment to work. Multiple recommendations were put forward to focus education on the demands of the business environment, with widespread support for vocational learning, curriculum reform and advanced careers guidance, to equip young people to obtain employment. A great number of essays also focused on the need to create more jobs for young people, with tax breaks recommended as a means to incentivise businesses to hire young recruits, and entrepreneurship presented as a way for young people to pursue employment while the growth of the national economy remains constrained and employers are struggling to hire new employees. Throughout the competition, the HJI has received essays and letters that have included personal testimonies of being young and unemployed. There was a belief amongst these writers that the system was set up for [them] to fail. Nevertheless, a great sense of optimism also filled competition entries, with many entrants believing that support for entrepreneurship, and for systemic improvements to enhance the transition from education to employment, could dramatically change the prospects of future generations.

With thanks to Emma Pike for her invaluable assistance in the compilation of this summary