Youth Transitions Research Overview
introduction
1.0 In 2005 the DfES published a consultation document, Youth Matters[1], setting out proposals to give Young People more say in the way local services and activities are provided. The thrust of the proposals was to ensure that all young people were given the best chance in life to succeed – by improving their qualifications, getting better jobs and making positive contributions to their local communities – while recognising the importance of good emotional and physical health.
1.1 Over 19,000 young people and 1,000 organisations responded to the consultation and their views informed the resultant implementation plan – Youth Matters: Next Steps[2]. The plan set out a vision for empowering young people and ‘giving them somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to’. In addition, it set out a significant reshaping of universal services for teenagers – with targeted support for those who need it most.
1.2 The DfES and Treasury further reviewed the provision of and access to leisure-time activities, and the delivery system for services for young people, as part of the cross-government 2007 Spending Review process. Some of the early thinking and analysis was published as part of the Treasury report ‘Policy review of children and young people’. The review identified three particular challenges in the provision of support for all young people: access; participation and engagement; quality. In July 2007 the DCSF / Treasury published a 10 Year Youth Strategy setting out a range of new commitments to tackle these challenges.
1.3 The aim of this paper is to pull together up-to-date and salient research, statistics and academic theory underpinning youth development that was drawn on to inform the strategy. The scope of the paper is deliberately broad. The ‘youth audit’ section takes as its starting point the indicators of well being as presented in the Every Child Matters [ECM] framework; the ‘influences’ section combines recent thinking around young people’s agency and social and economic structures. And we have attempted to capture up-to-date views and attitudes of young people, to set the data and theory within the opinions of young people.
1.4 The paper is structured around the following sections:
page
2.0 the climate for the youth debate 1
3.0 what we mean by transitions 3
4.0 the youth enigma 4
5.0 how transitions are changing 5
6.0 the state of youth – an audit 6
be healthy 6
stay safe 13
enjoy and achieve 15
make a positive contribution 19
achieve economic well being 22
7.0 influences on transitions 28
climate for the youth debate
2.0 The climate of debate around young people and the issues of importance to them is shrouded in a negative light. Adults and the media commonly associate young people with problems, such as anti social behaviour, and discussion tends to focus on the avoidance of problems like teenage pregnancy, rather than positive youth development.
32% of adults see teenagers hanging around as a very or fairly big problem in their area[3]; this level has remained broadly constant for the last decade and in the last two years has been the most prevalent local feature of anti-social behaviour [chart 1 below]. Troublesome teenagers are more of a problem in poor areas[4].
Source: Walker A, Kershaw C, Nicholas S, Crime in England and Wales 2005/06, Home Office Statistical Bulletin, July 2006
43% of adults feel very or quite worried for their personal safety when they are out in their local area and see groups of teenagers hanging about the street[5]: the main reasons for being worried are teenagers being loud or rowdy (38%) and drinking (33%).
71 per cent of media stories about young people are negative, while only 14 per cent are positive. A third of articles about young people are about crime[6]. On average, adults think young offenders commit 47 out of every 100 crimes recorded by the police: the reality is the 10 to 17 and 18 to 25 age groups each account for around a third of crimes[1] – 35% and 31% respectively[7] [8]. Over three fifths (62%) of adults think the number of young offenders has increased in the last two years.
2.1 However, the ‘concern’ among adults of young people, and a more general demonisation of youth culture, are not new. Youth subcultures such as Mods, Punks and Skinheads have all formerly been presented by the media as morally corrupt and deviant groups[9].
2.1 Young people are keenly aware of their reputation: 98% of them feel the media often, always, or sometime portrays them as anti-social[10]. Not surprisingly, young people are quick to disagree with this view, want more say in local issues and are confident they can take on more responsibility:
‘The headlines are good, but all it says is ‘teenager, teenager, teenager.’ But they shouldn’t put that, it’s just presuming that all teenagers are like that. Teenagers are just associated with so many bad things. You get stereotyped so much. I don’t think I’m a scary person but people still move out of my way’[11]
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only 14% of 15 and 16 year olds think they have enough say in decisions that affect them[12] [chart 2]
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only 2% of young people view hanging around’ as anti-social behaviour[13]
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2.2 Young people involved in a new scheme for allocating grants for local activities welcomed the chance for more meaningful involvement:
’It’s about adults listening to young people instead of always telling us what to do. Young people are responsible and can make decisions. We can do what adults do and should be taken seriously’[14]
2.3 It is important for young people to shift the focus of debate into a positive light. The teenage years are about equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and competencies to achieve their full potential; it is much more than simply avoiding negative behaviours. All young people, not just those in poor circumstances, need connections and support to help them thrive.
‘We have assumed that positive youth development occurs naturally in the absence of youth problems. Such thinking has created an assortment of youth services focused on ‘fixing’ adolescents in risky behaviours or preventing other youth from getting into trouble. Preventing high risk behaviours, however, is not the same as preparation for the future. An adolescent who attends school, obeys laws and avoids drugs is not necessarily equipped to meet the difficult demands of adulthood’[15]
what we mean by transitions
3.0 The policy review is interested in a broad analysis of young people’s paths to adulthood – building on the Every Child Matters outcomes framework. The primary focus is the pathway from compulsory schooling through further and/or higher education, training and into stable employment. But it is important to consider this transition in light of associated outcomes around the health of young people [both mental and physical], crime, safety, housing, leisure, family formation and communities.
3.1 The research review has attempted to capture the salient outcomes and influences in the analytical framework below [chart 3][16]. The chart illustrates how ‘higher level’ or ‘indirect’ external factors [such as globalisation], ‘immediate’ or ‘direct’ external factors [such as family] and internal factors [such as emotional development] combine to shape the pathways of young people to adulthood. These elements are discussed in more detail in the remainder of the review.
the youth enigma
4.0 The journey from late childhood to the end of adolescence is characterised by profound physical, intellectual, psychological, and social and emotional changes. These changes drive behaviour and thinking in ways which often puzzle and exasperate adults and expose young people to a number of developmental risks including for example academic failure, involvement in crime and antisocial behaviour and unsafe sex.
4.1 Although the process of adolescent development can differ between individual children in terms of onset and length, researchers typically define it as consisting of three distinct phases[17]:
preadolescence, between 9 and 13, which begins with the onset of puberty and is marked by the most rapid physical growth;
middle adolescence, between 14 and 16, when teenagers’ need for independence becomes increasingly apparent;
late adolescence, between 17 and 19, during which time they start to disengage from their families and begin the gradual transition towards economic and emotional independence.
4.2 Biological changes in puberty are linked to a range of characteristic behaviours and risks, including increases in sensation seeking; emotional intensity; mental health disturbances such as depression, eating disorders and substance abuse; sexual interest; changes in sleep patterns and increased appetite. The rate and timing of sexual maturity is particularly influential. Children undergoing sexual maturation at the same time as their peers are likely to continue to develop ‘competently and confidently’[18]. However, for boys, deviating from the timing of peers (by developing earlier or later) means they are more likely to abuse alcohol or struggle academically. For girls, while early onset of puberty brings the risk of poor outcomes such as depression and eating disorders, late onset can serve a protective function and has been positively linked to their higher academic achievement.
4.3 Puberty also heralds the beginning of a rapid and dramatic re-organisation of the brain. Recent evidence from neuro-science has overturned previously accepted wisdom that brain structure is relatively stable and fixed after the ages of 4 or 5. It has now been established that the adolescent brain develops and re-organises during the teenage years reaching maturity around the mid-twenties. This activity reduces the brain’s efficiency in some areas, such as working memory and decision-making, while enhancing and developing other areas like prospective memory and recognising emotion[19]. These developments contribute to the association between the teenage years and mood swings, turbulence and risk.
4.4 During this time the most frequently used neuronal pathways are strengthened and the less frequently used die off, ultimately creating an adult brain with fewer but stronger pathways. As a result, adolescence can be seen as a distinct and unique phase: it is a period of specialisation ‘where what you do directly affects what you know and how you think about it’[20]. These findings underscore the importance of close and careful nurturing of teenagers – in particular by parents - through experience and opportunity.
4.5 Crucial to this mix is the development of psychological, emotional and social characteristics/ skills which will enable young people to take up these learning experiences and opportunities. As Margo and others have argued[21], social and emotional skills, or ‘non-cognitions’ – for example their ‘agency’, planning skills, moral maturity and self-control – have now become more important in determining later outcomes. A substantial body of research supports this, with findings indicating that personal and social skills and personality attributes are about as important as cognitive abilities – educational achievements - in determining earning in later life[22] and are important determinants of a range of non-labour market outcomes, including smoking and drug use, and crime.
4.6 Clearly, adolescence can be seen as a distinct life phase and merits a carefully tailored policy response which reflects the views and language of young people themselves and the issues they consider important, a response which is about their growing independence, decision making and experiences of training, work and family.
how transitions are changing
5.0 The influences described below are combining to reshape the pathways and outcomes for young people in ways which increasingly disadvantage those from less affluent backgrounds. This process is dynamic and some of the changes seen in the last 30 years will continue over the next 30 years. Research has identified two major changes in youth transitions over the last few decades: an extension of the time taken, and more diverse pathways into secure and stable employment[23]. However, whilst the majority of young people stay on in education and take longer to reach full independence, a disadvantaged minority still leave school at 16 and enter a labour market where traditional craft apprenticeships and ‘stepping-stone jobs’ have virtually disappeared. Mostly unqualified and from low-income families, these young people are more likely to experience early unemployment and its longer-term impact (‘scarring’ effect’)[24] on later employment and earnings.[25]
5.1 Transitions have become extended and diverse due to three elements:
an increase in the number of stages between compulsory schooling and stable work, as more young people study in FE and HE, possibly interspersed with some time in work;
an increase in the length of time to complete some stages, such as more post graduate study and those who do enter employment taking longer to secure a stable job;
an interest in a broader definition of adulthood, to include housing, family formation and independent living.
5.2 These changes can be seen in new research comparing post compulsory education transitions of young men in the 1958 and 1970 cohort studies [chart 4][26]. For example, while 62% of young men in the 1958 cohort entered full time work, just 47% of those form the 1970 cohort did so; in 1970 training was a significantly more popular pathway (9% compared to 0.3%) as was postgraduate study (6% compared to 3%).
Source: Schoon, I., Ross, A., Martin, P. and Hope, S. (2007) Cognitive capital and the assumption of adult roles
5.3 In future, the extended pathway is likely to include more young people and all will be affected by the increase in ‘participation age’ to 18. These changes have resulted in increased risks for young people. There has been a loss of certainty in future pathways and young people need to be able to navigate the steps and find their own way. As already noted, research suggests the increase in risks is disproportionately impacting on those with lower school attainment – those who might have expected to move into unskilled work at 16. The implication of the change is an increased need to focus on prevention of education under performance – to give them support and direction as they need it during the transition process. This will help equip young people to be able to move successfully to the next stage. Looking at families - there is a longer period when young people are likely to be dependent on them for financial support and housing; this may be a burden for some.