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2 MAIN ACTIVITY AT 23-24

This chapter looks at the main activity status of young people who took part in the survey and has five main sections. The first discusses what respondents indicated their main activity was at the time of the survey (Spring 2006). Various factors are used to contextualise main activity status such as: stage of leaving school; gender; and parental social class. The second section explores issues in relation to education and training, including where respondents were studying, the qualifications they are likely to receive and the likelihood of participating in education or training by parental social class. The third section (jobs and training) looks at the occupations and industries young people were working in, as well as various questions to do with their employment - e.g. hours and income, attitudes towards their job, ways of finding a job, level of training received. The remaining sections, four and five, look at: career guidance, student debt, benefits and income.

2.1 Activity status

Results suggest that, by 2006, the majority of respondents, now aged 23-24, had completed their education and entered the labour market, with full-time employment being the main activity for 68%. However, one in ten were still undertaking some form of education, with 9% engaged in higher education and 1% in further education (this did not vary significantly by gender). As found in other cohorts (24 in 2004 and 23 in 1999) participation in a Government Training Programme ( GTP) decreases with age, with only 2% of respondents choosing this as their main activity. Other main activities of young people in 2006 were: working part-time (8%); looking after home and family (4%); out of work (6%) or doing something else (2%)

Differences between the activities of males and females were less pronounced than in previous sweeps of this cohort. The only statistically significant differences were that males were more likely than females to be out of work (8% compared with 4%), whereas females were more likely to be looking after the home/family (9% compared with 0%).

Table 2-1 Main activity by gender

2.1.1 Comparison with previous sweeps

Comparison of main activity results in 2006 with those from previous sweeps of the same cohort further suggests that by age 23/24 the majority of young people have moved into the labour market, with Table 2-2 showing a steady increase in those in full-time employment. This is, of course, consistent with the fact that the cohort is two years older and many respondents will have completed their secondary school education and gone into employment. Not surprisingly, there was a corresponding reduction in the number of respondents whose main activity was full-time higher or other full-time education. Interestingly the number of respondents who classed looking after the home/family as their main activity had not increased since 2004, yet the number of respondents who had children by 2006 had increased from 8% to 12% (see Chapter 3 for further discussion of this).

Table 2-2 Change in main activity across sweeps

2.1.2 Main activity by stage of leaving school

Stage of leaving school is closely associated with main activity, with those staying at school until S6 more likely to still be studying full-time higher education at age 24 (16%) and less likely to be working part-time (6%), be out of work (3%) or looking after family/home (2%). The reverse can be seen with those who left school in S4 where the comparable percentages are 1%, 13%, 10% and 10%.

Table 2-3 Main activity by stage of leaving school

2.1.3 Main activity by parental social class

The likelihood of citing full-time education as a main activity at the age of 23-24 was clearly linked to parental social class, with respondents from lower socio-economic groups less likely to have continued to further or higher education - 10% from partly skilled and unskilled occupations compared with 28% from professional and intermediate backgrounds. It should be noted, however, that this only includes those who were studying full-time at the time of survey and does not include those who had completed their education. In addition, respondents from higher socio-economic groups were also less likely than those from lower socio-economic groups to be out of work or looking after a family/home. However, these associations were not found in relation to those from skilled non-manual and manual backgrounds where no clear pattern was evident.

Table 2-4 Main activity by parental social class

Please note: parental social class was matched on from sweep one data collected in 1999. The occupation groupings used in 1999 were slightly different to those used in 2006. This means the social class labels used in this table are different to those used in other tables.

2.2 Education and training courses

This section looks, first, at where respondents were studying and the type of qualifications they were likely to receive. It then explores further the likelihood of participating in full-time education by parental social class.

2.2.1 Place of study and type of qualification

In Spring 2006, 24% of respondents were in full-time, part-time or distance learning education or a training course: 12% were studying or training full-time; 7% part-time and 6% through distance learning. Of those who were studying or training 44% were working full-time as well.

[Table not shown]

Just under half (45%) of those who were in education or training were studying (full-time or part-time) at university, 15% at further education colleges. For the remaining 40% it was unclear where they were studying as many of them were doing professional qualifications and gave the name of the qualification they were studying and not the location. Others said they were studying through work or did not give enough detail to classify whether the establishment was a college or university.

[Table not shown]

2.2.2 Type of qualification

Over half (58%) of respondents who were undertaking an education or training course were studying for an ordinary, honours, higher degree or professional qualification, with no variation by gender.

Table 2-5 Qualification likely to result from current education

The majority (78%) of respondents who were undertaking a degree course were studying at university. Not surprisingly respondents studying non-degree courses were more likely to study at college than university (81% compared with 5%). Around one third (34%) of respondents in the 'other' place of study were studying for a professional qualification which, as mentioned above, makes classification of place of study difficult.

Table 2-6 Qualification likely to result by place of study

Unlike the comparator age cohort (24 in 2004) and previous sweeps of this cohort, participation in an education or training course was not related to parental social class with no clear patterns emerging (Table 2-7). This may suggest that parental social class is becoming a less powerful predictor of participation in education or training at age 23/24.

Table 2-7 Participation in education or training course by parental social class

2.3 Jobs and training

This section examines the nature of work undertaken by respondents who classed their main activity as employment - whether full-time (either with or without a GTP) or part-time. As shown in Table 2.1, this accounts for 78% of respondents. We look, first, at occupation and industry classification, and then at employment status including: the number of respondents who were employees and employers; the level of responsibility the respondent had; and the duration of their contract. Next, number of hours worked by gender is discussed, along with level of pay, ways of finding employment, and the level of training received through employment. Part-time workers are then looked at in greater depth and, finally, respondent attitudes to their work are discussed.

2.3.1 Occupation and industry

In order to classify industry and occupation, respondents were asked a number of questions about their full-time or part-time job or GTP. This meant that the type of economic activity respondents were involved with could be classified using the Standard Industry Classification ( SIC) tool. Overall, industries that respondents were most likely to be working in were: education/health/social services (20%), banking/financial/renting/business activities (15%) and wholesale, retail or repair sector (13%). However, this did vary by gender. The most common industry for females was education/health/social services but not for men (31% compared with 8%) for whom the most common industry was construction (16% compared with 3% of females). Similar results were found for those working full-time or in a GTP, but not for part-time workers. Looking solely at part-time workers, the most common industry was the wholesale/retail/repair (35%), which was also the most common industry for male and female part-time workers (41% and 28%).

Table 2-8 Industry worked in ( SIC) by gender and type of employment

Note: due to the small number of respondents with a GTP as their main activity these have been combined with full-time workers.

Occupation was coded using the SOC 2000 coding schema (see Appendix A for further information). Overall, young people were most likely to be working in associate professional/technical occupations (19%). However, this did vary by gender with the most common occupations for women being associate professional/technical ¹ (24%), whereas for men craft and related occupations were most common (26%). Once again similar results were found for full-time workers and those on GTPs but not for part-time workers. Looking solely at those working part-time, other occupations (33%) and sales occupations were the most common (21%), and this varied by gender. Men who were working part-time were more likely to work in other occupations (49%) and women working part-time were more likely to work in sales (26%).

Table 2-9 Occupation by type of employment and gender

2.3.2 Employment status

Of those whose current main activity was a job (including part-time employment if this was their main activity), work placement or GTP, almost all (95%) were employees and just 5% were self-employed or employers with employees. Men were more likely than women to be self employed or be an employer with employees (8% compared with 3%).

Table 2-10 Employment status by gender

Sixteen percent of respondents who said their main activity was either full-time/part-time work or a GTP were working with a temporary contract, with no variation by gender. The industry where respondents with a temporary contract were most likely to be found working was education/health/social services (39% of those with a temporary contract).

[Table not shown]

2.3.3 Self employment

A small minority of respondents (5%) were currently, or had been, self-employed. However around a quarter (24%) said they had thought about starting their own business, 2% had thought about buying into an existing business and one in ten (12%) had thought about becoming self-employed in another way. Men were significantly more likely then women to consider self-employment.

[Table not shown]

2.3.4 Hours and pay

On average, young people whose main activity was work (this includes full-time and part-time work and GTPs) worked 37 hours per week. This increased to 39 hours per week for those who worked full-time or were working on a GTP. The average number of hours per week worked by part-time workers was 24. As found in the comparator cohort (24 in 2004) young men were much more likely than young women to work 39 or more hours per week (56% compared with 31% of the overall total).

Table 2-11 Hours by type of job

Turning now to look at monthly income, the average net take home pay for those whose main activity was employment was £1063. Not surprisingly, this was higher than the comparator age cohort (24 in 2004) which had an average monthly income of £933. As found in previous sweeps and the comparator age cohort men were significantly more likely than women to earn over £1000 per month than women (42% compared with 31% of the overall total and 60% compared with 41% of those working full-time or on GTP). This does not necessarily reflect differential pay rates, however, as it should be remembered that males were significantly more likely than females to work an average of over 40 hours per week (26% compared with 12%) and this may contribute to the disparity in income.

Table 2-12 Pay by type of job

2.3.5 Finding the job

Friends and family continue to be most common method of finding a job (32%) along with external job advertisements (19%). However, men were more likely than females to have found a job through friends and family (40% compared with 24%) and a higher proportion of females than males found their job through an external job advertisement (22% compared with 16%).

Table 2-13 Method of finding job by gender

2.3.6 Training

The vast majority (93%) of those whose main activity was employment were receiving some kind of on-the-job or off-the-job training. Around a third (34%) were receiving on-the-job training from a supervisor, trainer or experienced colleague, and 30% were receiving training somewhere else. Across all types of employment females were significantly more likely than males to receive training at the firm's own training centre.

Table 2-14 Training received by job type and gender

Around one third (37%) of those receiving some kind of training in their job or on a government training programme indicated that they would obtain a qualification on completion of the training.

[Table not shown]

2.3.7 Part-time work

In table 2-1, 8% of respondents said their main activity was part-time work. However, a further 20% had a part-time job in addition to their main activity, making a total of 28% of respondents with a part-time job. Looking at all part-time workers, over half (59%) of females were working part-time in comparison with 41% of males. Around one fifth (21%) were also working full-time and over a quarter (27%) were studying full-time (Table 2-15).

Table 2-15 Main activity of part-time workers by gender

2.3.8 Attitudes to job

Seven out of ten (70%) of respondents whose main activity was employment said they would leave their current job or programme if they could get a better job. However, the majority appeared to be relatively positive about their current employment. Nine out of ten felt their current job or programme was teaching them useful skills (90%) and 84% felt it was good experience. Around two thirds (64%) were involved in work that they would like to do in the future. Despite the overall positive attitude towards their current job or programme, over half (58%) said that they were mainly doing their job for the money, with males more likely than females to agree with this statement (63% compared with 52%).

Table 2-16 Attitudes towards job by gender

Note: Bases vary as a result of item non-responses

2.4 Career guidance

Responses to each type of careers guidance are presented in Table 2-16. Looking first at the 'advice received' column, the most common source of careers guidance was from a family member, with 64% receiving advice from this source. Other common sources of guidance were friends (57%) or careers advisors from school, college or university (61%). A telephone helpline was the least likely source of careers guidance for young people, with 2% reporting that they got advice from this source.

Turning now to look at the 'advice was helpful' column the most helpful sources of advice were other (97%) and employers, workmates, and family members (all 96%). Around a third (34%) rated advice they received from the JobCentre Plus/Benefits Agency as not helpful.

Table 2-17 Career guidance received

Note: Percentages are row percentages.

2.5 Student debt, benefits and overall income

Around half (45%) of respondents said they had a student loan and/or other debts from studying at college or university. The average total amount of combined student debt from a student loan or other studying debt was £7,940; 29% of students had debts over £10,001 at age 23/24.

Table 2-18 Amount of student debt

Note: respondents could have both a student loan and other debt from studying, therefore these bases will sum to more than the percentage mentioned above and the total student debt base figures. This is also true for the mean figures.

Seventeen percent of respondents were receiving benefits in Spring 2006, with women significantly more likely than men to receive benefits (21% compared with 12%). Child tax credit was the most common benefit received (9%) - again, women were significantly more likely to receive this than men (15% compared with 3%). Women were more likely to receive Income Support, Child Benefit and working tax credit, which is not surprising considering that women aged 23/24 were more likely to have a child (16% compared with 7% of men).

Table 2-19 Benefits by gender

Table 2-19 presents monthly income categorised for those who are working and not working, by gender. This includes income from employment, benefits, bonuses and overtime. Not surprisingly those working full-time had the highest monthly income, with a mean figure of £1,063 in comparison to the mean figure of £507 for those not working. Working men were also more likely than working women to earn more than £1,251 per month (34% compared with 15%).

Table 2-20 Monthly income for all respondents

2.6 Key points

• The majority of respondents, now aged 23-24, had completed their education and entered the labour market, with full-time employment being the main activity for 68%. However, one in ten were still undertaking some form of education, with 9% engaged in higher education and 1% in further education. Participation in a Government Training Programme ( GTP) decreases with age, with only 2% of respondents choosing this as their main activity. Other main activities of young people aged 24 were: working part-time (8%); looking after home and family (4%); out of work (6%) or doing something else (2%).
• Differences between the activities of males and females were less pronounced than in previous sweeps of this cohort. The only statistically significant differences were that males were more likely to be out of work (8% compared with 4%), whereas females were more likely to be looking after the home/family (9% compared with 0%).
• Those staying at school until S6 were more likely to be studying full-time higher education at age 24 (16%) and less likely to be working part-time (6%), be out of work (3%) or looking after family/home (2%). The reverse can be seen with those who left school in S4 where the comparable percentages are 1%, 13%, 10% and 10%.
• The likelihood of being in full-time education at the age of 23-24 was clearly linked to parental social class, with respondents from lower socio-economic groups less likely to have continued to further or higher education - 10% from partly skilled and unskilled occupations compared with 28% from professional and intermediate backgrounds.
• Around one quarter (24%) were in full-time, part-time or distance learning, and over half of these respondents were studying for an ordinary, honours, higher degree or professional qualification, with no variation by gender.
• The most common industry respondents were likely to be working in (whose main activity was full-time, part-time work or GTP) was the education/health and social services (20%). However, there were variations. For example, the most common industry for part-time workers was wholesale/retail/repair (35%) and the most common industry for males was construction (16%).
• Young people, overall, were most likely to be working in associate professional/technical occupations (19%). However, this did vary by gender with the most common occupation for women being associate professional/technical (24%), whereas for men craft and related occupations were most common (26%).
• Sixteen percent of respondents who said their main activity was either full-time/part-time work or a GTP were working with a temporary contract, with no variation by gender.
• In all types of employment ( i.e. full-time, GTP, part-time and overall total) young men were significantly more likely to work more than 39 hours per week than young women.
• The vast majority (93%) of those in employment (full-time or part-time) or on a GTP in Spring 2006 were receiving some kind of on-the-job or off-the-job training.
• Around half (45%) of respondents said they had a student loan and/or other debts from studying at college or university. The average total amount of combined student debt from a student loan or other studying debt was £7,940; one in ten students (12%) had debts over £15,001 at age 24.
• Respondents working full-time had the highest monthly income, with a mean figure of £1,063 in comparison to the mean figure of £507 for those not working. Men working full-time were also more likely to earn more than £1500 per month than women (16% compared with 4%).

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