Economic well being

Homelessness

There are no official statistics for youth homelessness. However, in 2006-07, data on the scale of homelessness (which is limited to young people who are in contact with services) indicates that at least 75,000 young people experienced homelessness in the UK.

(Source: Youth Homelessness in the UK, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2008).

In 2006-7, 6390 young people were accepted as homeless (young people are 16-17 year olds, or 18-20 year old care leavers). This is down from 8350 in 2005-6.

At the end of December 2008, around 530 16 and 17 year olds were placed in bed and breakfast by housing authorities, down from around 1000 in September 2006.

(Source: Commons written answer 21 May 2008).

During 2007-8, just over 63,000 households were accepted as homeless and in priority need in England, compred to 73,000 in 2006-7.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009)

Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)

In August 2009, the NEET rate for 16-18-year-olds rose to 11.9%, up from 9.7% at the end of 2007.  There are now 935,000 16 to 24-year-old young people who are NEET, compared to 810,000 at the end of 2007.

(Source: NEET statistics - Quarterly brief, DCSF, August 2009).

In 2004, one in six (17%) of black young people and 6% of Asian young people were NEET at age 18, compared with one in eight (12%) of white young people.

(Source: Youth Cohort Study, Department for Education and Skills, 2004)

Further and higher education participation

At the end of 2005, 50,000 (76%) of 16-year-olds had gone on to full-time further education, an increase of 3% since the end of 2004. A higher proportion of young women than young men of this age were in full-time education (82% compared with 72%).

In 2005/06 there were 485,500 young people aged 16 to 24 on Work Based Learning schemes in England.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 37, 2007)

At the end of 2008, 92.7% of 16-year-olds, 83.5% of 17-year-olds and 63.4% of 18-year-olds were in full-time education or training.

(Source: Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 Year Olds in England:Statistical First release, DCSF, June 2009).

At October 2006, there were an estimated 1.88 million learners in council-funded FE, of whom 688,000 were under the age of 19, an increase of 5% from October 2005. In 2006, an average of 22,000 young people were in learning on E2E programmes, which are aimed at young people aged 16-18 not yet ready or able to enter an Apprenticeship.

(Source: Further Education, Work-based Learning for Young People, Train to Gain and Adult and Community Learning - Learner Numbers in England, October 2006, Department for Education and Skills Statistical First Release, 2007)

In 2008, over half (54%) of young people aged 10 to 15 said they had ambitions to go to university when they leave school.

(Source: TellUs3 survey, Ofsted, 2008).

Employment/unemployment

In 2008 (Q1), 586,000 young people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed - 5% down on the previous quarter.  In Q2, 622,000 16-24-year-olds were unemployed - 6% up on the previous quarter.  In Q1, 576,000 18-24-year-olds were unemployed - 4% down on the previous quarter.  In Q2, 609,000 18-24-year-olds were unemployed - up 6% on the previous quarter.

(Source: Labour Force Survey - taken from a Commons written answer 10 November 2008).

In 2007, 56% of 16-24-year-olds were employed, compared to 61% in 1997.

In 2007, the youth unemployment rate was 14%, compared with just 11% in 2004.

(Source: Jobs for Youth, OECD, 2008).

In 2008, 28% of 16 to 17-year-old young men and 23% young women were economically inactive (neither in employment nor unemployed).

In 2008, one in five 18 to 24-year-olds had been unemployed for more than 12 months.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009).

In 2007/08, 107,000 young people aged 16 to 18 started an apprenticeship under the government's apprenticeship programme.

(Source: Commons written answer 22 June 2009).

In 1998, when the New Deal for Young People programme was introduced, 64% of young people leaving the programme found employment.  This fell rapidly thereafter, from 55% in 1999 to just 47% in 2006.

In 2007, one in five young people who found work through the New Deal for Young People programme held a job lasting less than 13 weeks.

(Source: Jobs for Youth, OECD, 2008).

In 2006, around 40% of 14 to 15-year-olds had a regular job.

(Source: Young people into 2007, Schools Health Education Unit, 2007).

Transport

In 2007, more than half (51%) of 17 to 20-year-olds repotred using a local bus at least onc e a week..

38% of young adults aged 17 to 20 held a driving licence.

(Source: Social Trends, No. 39, 2009)

Around 5,000 children under the age of 16 die or are seriously injured on Britain's roads each year. A quarter of all 15-year-olds killed and seriously injured in road accidents are passengers in cars, with an under-21 driver.

(Source: AA Motoring Trust website)

Pocket money/debt

In 2009, the average weekly pocket money for seven to 15-year-olds was £6.32.  In a survey, almost a third (32 per cent) felt under pressure to make financial decisions despite being so young. 

(Source: pfeg survey, 2009).

In 2006, almost a third (29%) of 14-15 year olds reported receiving more than £10 in pocket money.

(Source: Young people into 2007, Schools Health Education Unit, 2007).

In 2007, a survey of 3,000 young people for MTV One found the average young person receives an allowance of up to £1,000 a year. 13-year-olds receive on average, £45 a month, this rises to £80 a month for 16-year-olds and £120 for 18-year-olds.

(Source: Guardian article 11/10/07)

In 2007, a survey by YouGov for Rainer of over 4,000 young people found that 90% were in debt by the age of 21. Almost half (46%) owed more than £2,000 and one in five had owed more than £10,000.

(Source: Why Do the Young Pay More? Young People, Debt and Financial Exclusion, Rainer, 2008)