Post-16 Transitions: a Longitudinal Study of Young People with ...

• help to progress into work/training
• information
• help to make decisions
5.4 Unemployment/inactivity
• an explanation of the options available to them.
A (not insignificant) number (eight per cent) of young people
who were in employment at the time of the survey had help to
plan how they would be supported whilst in work or training.
5.4.1 Reason for inactivity
Seventeen per cent of young people taking part in the survey
were unemployed or classified as economically inactive ie ill,
working but not getting paid for it, looking after the family or
home, or attending a day care centre. These young people
were asked again about their current activity, not only in
terms of what they were doing at the time but also to gauge
whether they were waiting or intending to start some other
activity.
Table 5.20 shows that 15 per cent of these young people were
waiting for a job or education/training course to start, 58 per
cent were looking for work and five per cent were actually
looking for an education or training course.
Males seem to be more likely than females to have been
looking for work at the time of the survey, as do young people
without statements of SEN compared to those with
statements, and young people from mainstream schools
compared to those in special schools.
Females, young people with statements and those who had
attended a special school were less likely to be engaged in
looking for work, or waiting for a job or course to start than
males, those without statements and those who had attended a
mainstream school. Looking at Table 5.21, it is clear that the
majority of this smaller group of young people had poor
health or had caring responsibilities themselves and were
unable to engage in, or look for, work, education or training at
the time of the survey.
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