Interrogating early school leaving, youth unemployment and NEETs: Understanding local contexts in two english regions

Abstract

In England, early school leaving is not part of the official policy discourse; the focus instead is on reducing youth unemployment and the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). The overall aim of this paper is to examine the key issues at stake in the changing policy landscape relating to education and youth unemployment in England, and to explore the challenges facing young people in the context of localised socio-economic factors. Drawing on the academic literature, official statistics and qualitative data from our fieldwork in two English regions, we explore the differences between the concepts of ESL, NEETs and youth unemployment and interrogate the efficacy of these terms to capture vulnerability patterns in youth transitions. In addition, the paper argues that educational policies and outcomes need to be understood in relation to economic opportunity structures not just nationally but also at regional levels. Our data suggests that although educational attainment has a positive impact on labour market outcomes, it is unlikely that education policy initiatives alone will solve the issue of large-scale youth unemployment.