Young Lives, Young Futures is a major national study being carried out by a team of researchers at King's College London and Edge Foundation. Summary findings from this six-year study — in which more than 10,000 young people have participated — highlights the urgent need for a coordinated strategy across government and society to ensure more equitable education-to-work transitions for young people taking non-graduate routes. This group represents 50% of young people and 50% of the country’s future, yet too many of them continue to be failed by:
- An education and careers advice system that values academic achievement and going to university over practical and creative learning and non-university routes into work.
- Limited opportunities for young people to access apprenticeships, good quality training and secure work with employers who care about their progression and wellbeing.
- Stark inequalities in the distribution of these opportunities along axes of gender, ethnicity, migrant status, special educational needs and disabilities, social class, and place.
- Cultures of top-down decision-making in schools and workplaces in which the voices of students and young workers are rarely elicited or heard.
Further details of these findings are provided in the report, Precarious Transitions, and other project publications available on the project website.
The study — funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council — is being conducted in partnership with young people, and advisors from government, unions, employer organisations, schools, colleges, training providers, and youth charities. You can download the summary report, Precarious Transitions, below.
