Causes of variations in labour market outcomes for young people facing marginalisation

What is the issue?

There is no generally agreed upon definition of the term 'marginalised' or 'disadvantaged youth’. Marginalisation can be understood as a result of a process in which some people are left behind, intentionally or inadvertently. The Youth Futures Foundation (YFF), an independent, not-for-profit organisation, aims to improve employment outcomes for young people from marginalised backgrounds.

How did we help?

Youth Futures commissioned RAND Europe to conduct exploratory research that aimed at:

• Identifying key differences between the labour market outcomes for young people who face different kinds of social and economic marginalisation in the UK
• Exploring explanations for the causes of these differences, through a literature review
• Sense-testing emerging explanations, definitions and other findings with young people, practitioners, and other experts on youth employment

RAND Europe carried out a literature review to examine and explore causes of variations in employment outcomes for young people facing marginalisation. Key research questions included:

• How do employment outcomes for young people vary?
• How do these variations relate to contextual factors?
• What explanations are advanced for the causes of identified variations?
• How can we define ‘marginalisation’ or types of marginalisation?

Methods such as rapid evidence assessments and a meta-ethnographic approach were adopted to synthesise the literature included in this review.

What did we find?

• Based on the findings in this study, we propose a revised, multifaceted definition of marginalised young people as: individuals aged 16-24 who face significant barriers to accessing opportunities and achieving their full potential in the labour market due to one or more factors which may intersect with each other.
• These factors include but are not limited to: gender, ethnicity and race, health conditions, educational needs and access, work experience, socio-economic status, geographical location, as well as temporal and contextual factors.
• These factors, individually and in combination, contribute to the systemic marginalisation of some young people, creating obstacles that hinder their ability to access the same opportunities and resources as their peers, ultimately affecting their educational attainment and career prospects.

What can be done?

• Overall, the explanations of marginalisation offered in the reviewed literature were somewhat limited and researchers come at this question with different initial assumptions. In addition, there is disagreement in the literature about the extent to which some theories offer plausible explanations. While it is beyond the scope of this study to determine which theories are more useful or evidence-based than others, this is a possible avenue for further research.
• The evidence reviewed here mostly concentrates on young people’s employment status, e.g., being employed versus unemployed, or NEET (not in education, employment or training). Less is known about the quality of work that they can access, and the factors associated with being able to access good quality work. This may reflect a focus in current policy on getting young people into employment rather than on the quality of that employment. However, from an equality perspective, we need more evidence on whether marginalised young people are able to access good quality work, whether their employment is sustainable, and how well they can progress their careers compared to young people who are at lower risk of marginalisation.
• While this review has identified evidence on how young people’s education and employment outcomes vary according to gender, the way gender is defined in sources we reviewed is binary. Evidence on the education and employment outcomes of LGBT young people is limited.
• Another gap relates to studies that examine the effect of health conditions or special educational needs (SEN) on education and employment outcomes among young people, and which seek to explain related disparities.
• Most studies reviewed here do not include extensive information about the views of employers, policymakers, parents and other key stakeholders.
• This report helps to understand which groups of young people are affected by marginalisation and why. The extent to which this knowledge is reflected in existing programmes, interventions and services aimed at addressing youth marginalisation should be the subject of future research. Such research could provide valuable insights for improving the effectiveness of current policies and practices, considering what we already know about the factors contributing to youth marginalisation.

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Additional team member

Merrilyn Groom