The Employment Gap in the North West

This report is part of the Youth Jobs Gap research series, which uses new Longitudinal Education Outcomes data to present new insights into disadvantaged young people’s transition from compulsory education into employment. The first three national reports have looked at NEET rates, higher education, and apprenticeships respectively. These national reports have also looked at differences between regions – but differences within the regions are often greater than the differences between regions.

This report,  based on research undertaken for the charity  Impetus by the Centre for Vocational Education Research and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) looks at the North West region, including the combined authority areas of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region. It presents findings at local authority area level, for the measures developed in the first three national reports.

It reveals that disadvantaged young people in the North West are more likely to not be in education, employment or training (NEET) than in England as a whole. And low qualified young people in the North West fare even worse.

However, the study finds that every locality in the North West has its own story, with areas where young people fare well and other areas where they’re falling behind. This is true even within combined authority areas - for example, twice as many young people are NEET in Manchester as in Trafford, both parts of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. In order to tackle the challenges faced by disadvantaged young people in the North West, it is important to use this data to consider solutions to youth unemployment at a local level.