Alan Milburn’s independent report for the UK government, Young people and work, begins with a stark reminder of the scale of the challenge:
One million lives.
Nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 in the United Kingdom are not in education, employment or training (NEET). One in eight young people. And rising. Behind the statistics lie individual lives: aspirations thwarted, opportunities lost, futures placed on hold.
The question it raises is urgent: who becomes NEET, and what can be done much earlier in life to change that trajectory?
The early signs are visible from the start of school
From the early years, the system already has the data and evidence to know who is most likely to struggle later. The risks associated with becoming NEET are often visible long before a young person reaches their teenage years.
The evidence Milburn cites is striking. A study of more than 8,000 young people in Bradford found that children who did not reach ‘a Good Level of Development’ (GLD)* by the end of the EYFS were five were nearly three times as likely to be NEET at ages 16 to 17.
Among those who did not reach a Good Level of Development at reception, 11% were later NEET, compared with 4% of those who did.
In other words, missing the early building blocks of learning and development does not simply create a short-term problem. As the report puts it, a child who falls behind at five is, on average, still behind at 16.
*Children are defined as having reached a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of the EYFS if they have achieved the expected level for the Early Learning Goals in the prime areas of learning (which are: communication and language; personal, social and emotional development; and physical development) and the specific areas of mathematics and literacy.
Why personal, social and emotional development (PSED) matters
A Good Level of Development is not just a measure of literacy and numeracy. It also includes personal, social and emotional development, as well as communication and language. These are the capabilities that employers often describe as missing later on: the ability to communicate confidently, handle difficult interactions and work well alongside others.
Milburn points to research from the United States that reinforces this point. Damon E. Jones, Mark Greenberg and Max Crowley examined whether kindergarten teachers’ ratings of children’s prosocial skills could predict outcomes in adolescence and adulthood.
Their findings were clear: social-emotional skills in kindergarten were significantly associated with young adult outcomes across education, employment, criminal activity, substance use and mental health.
The so-called “soft skills” employers value do not suddenly appear in the teenage years. Their roots are in the early years.
What this means for policy and practice
If we are serious about reducing the number of young people who become NEET, the response cannot begin at 16. It has to begin much earlier, with a sustained focus on early childhood development, school readiness, communication and language, and personal, social and emotional learning.
It’s a reminder that our work in early years is important and life-changing.
Further reading
Alan Milburn’s Independent Report, Young people and work
Damon E. Jones, Mark Greenberg, and Max Crowley: Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness American Journal of Public Health 105, 2283_2290
A longer version of this blog appeared in Julian’s free LinkedIn newsletter, Early Years High Five: Early Years research evidence in 5 quick reads