London boroughs make up 16 of the top 20 best places in England for young people to find employment or training, with Sutton, Barnet, Redbridge, Kingston upon Thames and Harrow occupying spots 1 to 5, researchers at Learning and Work Institute have revealed.

The independent policy and research organisation’s Youth Opportunity Index maps out the employment and education opportunities available to young people in local authorities across England. When the Index was first published in 2018, ten London boroughs ranked in the top 20 overall. This suggests young people in London have seen improvement in the already top-ranking opportunities available to them.

But young Londoners still experience unequal barriers to opportunity according to where they live: the boroughs of Lewisham and Lambeth rank 98th and 68th respectively out of a total 151 local authorities in England.

The research comes as L&W reveals three in five (58%) of the UK’s near-one-million young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) have never had a paid job. As ONS data shows 13% of all 16–24-year-olds in the UK are neither earning nor learning, researchers, L&W warns that this could both harm their life prospects and have a wider scarring effect on economic growth and society. 

Once a young person has been NEET for a sustained period of time, researchers have revealed it is much harder for them to get back on track. Worryingly, the data show that almost half (48%) of young people are still not in education, employment or training a year after they first become NEET. 

The Government is implementing a ‘Youth Guarantee’ for 18-21-year-olds across eight trailblazer areas in England following recommendations from L&W. Two trailblazers will be held in London, although precise locations for this have not yet been confirmed.

L&W contends that this rollout of guaranteed support to find a job, training or education place or apprenticeship will need to reflect the diversity of the young people who are not currently participating in the labour market, and the differing opportunities available to them locally. It is also likely to need greater investment given the rising number of NEETs, including action to boost youth apprenticeships which have fallen by more than one third since 2017. 

The research is part of wider work L&W is doing, including in partnership with Youth Futures Foundation, to inform the rollout of the Youth Guarantee. 

Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute, said:

“Far too many young people are neither earning or learning and the numbers are rising, risking long-term harm to their career prospects. Our Youth Opportunity Index confirms London as England’s opportunity capital and shows how much young people’s access to employment and training varies across the country. That’s fundamentally unfair. The Government’s introduction of a Youth Guarantee in England is a step in the right direction – but it will need a laser-like focus on delivery and greater investment to improve opportunities. Talent is evenly distributed in our country, but opportunity isn’t. That needs to change.”