Impetus (with CVER/NIESR) · 2019
Using the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) administrative dataset, this briefing establishes for the first time a measurable "employment gap" between disadvantaged young people and their better-off peers in England: 26% of disadvantaged 18–24 year olds were NEET in March 2017, compared to 13% of non-disadvantaged peers. The gap is consistent across time, cohorts, and all English regions, with the North East showing the worst outcomes and London the smallest gap. Crucially, only half of the gap can be explained by differences in qualification levels, meaning that socioeconomic disadvantage independently drives NEET risk above and beyond educational attainment.