The UK could learn from the US on improving opportunities for young people entering employment, according to a Centre for Cities report.
The report, Youth Opportunity; Lessons on improving young people’s employment prospects from US cities, states that the most successful US cities have “high levels of employer engagement and direct involvement from employers.”
“Successful collaborations also have strong leadership; shared and measurable goals; support from an intermediary organisation; and monitoring and evaluation systems that encourage continuous engagement and best practice sharing,” the report stated.
It said that greater youth employment activity within private businesses in the US compared to the UK was down to the fact that “spending on welfare in the US means that private citizens and philanthropic organisations play a more significant role in funding workforce development or employment support activities.”
US cities’ “greater fiscal autonomy compared to UK cities” also played a role, “giving them greater flexibility and more room to innovate”.
The report recommended that businesses should get involved with, and where appropriate lead, the design and delivery of youth employment initiatives, and develop work experience and work-based learning programmes in collaboration with schools and other learning providers. Read more
