New research by Action for Children and the John Lewis Partnership shows a quarter of care-experienced people struggle to land their first job due to a lack of ID to prove eligibility to work.
New research by Action for Children, funded by the John Lewis Partnership Foundation through their Building Happier Futures programme, shows care-experienced people face practical barriers to finding and beginning their first job, such as access to ID documentation, suitable work clothing and access to public transport.
The findings come ahead of an interim report from the UK Government’s flagship review into youth unemployment and economic inactivity, led by former health secretary Alan Milburn, which will highlight the challenges young people face accessing work.
Around one in eight 16–24-year-olds are currently not in education, employment or training – with care-experienced young people disproportionately disadvantaged.
The new polling compared over 1,400 people with experience of the care system (including care leavers) and over 400 people without, finding many universal challenges for young people seeking and starting their first jobs, irrespective of background.
Lots of young people struggle with writing their CV, preparing for job interviews and conducting themselves in a work environment, for example.
However, care-experienced people – in particular care leavers – at are a significant disadvantage compared to the general population when securing and starting work, on a range of measures. One of these is practical barriers.
In the research, the general population was almost twice as likely to report that they had not been affected by any of the practical barriers, compared to those who have experienced care (61% and 31% respectively).
The research found affordability to be the primary reason why care-experienced people were unable to secure ID documents and use public transport for work - two of the practical barriers we polled on.
This suggests that financial difficulties – and in some cases poverty – plus housing instability can play a significant role in holding care-experienced people back from entering employment.