The youth unemployment ‘crisis’ of the 1980s: How two comprehensive schools have responded

Abstract

Abstract The high levels of youth unemployment of the 1980s have represented a ‘crisis’ for secondary schools, especially in areas of higher than average unemployment like the North East of England, where only 10% of 16‐year‐olds have entered full time employment since 1983. Research conducted during 1986 to 1987 in two comprehensive schools in North East England focused on the impact of youth unemployment on pupils and teachers and examined school responses to youth unemployment. Motivation levels amongst 70 pupils nearing the end of compulsory schooling remained relatively high. Most pupils were aware of their bleak employment prospects but few could offer any coherent explanations of the causes of unemployment. Career aspirations were low, with many pupils accepting that they would end up on the Youth Training Scheme1 (YTS). The main response to youth unemployment in both schools was the adoption of ‘new vocational’ initiatives which aim to improve pupils’ employability. It is argued that such policies can have at best only a marginal effect on young people's employment prospects unless there is a dramatic expansion of the local youth labour market. Young people instead need to be given the means to understand the situation facing them. One method of achieving this may be via an alternative approach to social and political education.