‘disaffected’ ‘disengaged’ ‘disconnected’ ‘hard to reach’ ‘the hard to help’ ‘the socially excluded’ ‘the youth underclass’ ‘status zero’ ‘NEET’ (i.e. those ‘not in education,

employment and training’) McDonald (2008)

Defining young people by something they are not, something that they do not have’ (McDonald 2008)

Measuring young people in terms of their distance from the labour market and their ability to supply the skills demanded by employers

The disappearance from the 1980s onwards of a youth employment market (Payne and Payne, 1994)

‘In the late 1980s youth unemployment ceased to exist…….’ (Furlong, 2006, p.553)

Both factors place young people in a position of dependency for longer and make them more visible

‘If work is an individual and social good, then those for whom work is more important are in some sense implicitly better.’ (Cole, 2008, p.31)

A belief that ‘the failings of young people, their parents and communities (are) ultimately responsible for the persistence of mass youth unemployment.’ (Mizen, 2003, p.468)

Responsibilisation?

Casualisation of the employment market:◦at any one time 30% of the population

(many of them young people) are working in ‘insecure sectors of the labour market.’ (Furlong and Carmel, 2004, p.4)

‘a market-based framework.’ (Cregan, 2001, p.133)◦youth unemployment as an issue

requires individual change rather than societal reassessment and restructure

‘In the main the young men whose lives we describe were neither work shy or unemployable but many were effectively locked out of segments of the labour market that offer opportunities for secure employment, career development and a decent quality of life.’ (Furlong and Carmel, 2004, p.1)

Do you see evidence of a ‘deficit’ model at play in society’s attitudes towards young people and employment?

What are the tensions between meeting government targets on youth engagement and supporting young people to address their needs?

Cole, M. (2008) ‘Sociology contra government? The contest for the meaning of unemployment in UK policy debates’ Work, Employment and Society Vol.22, No.7, pp.27-43

Cregan, C (2001) ‘What’s happened to the labour market for early school leavers in Britain?’ Industrial Relations Journal Vol,32. No,2. pp.126-134

Furlong, A. (2006) ‘Not a very NEET solution: representing problematic labour market transitions among early school-leavers’ Work, Employment and SocietyVol,20. No,3. pp.553-569

Furlong, A. Carmel, F. (2004) Vulnerable young men in fragile labour markets. Employment, unemployment and the search for long term security York Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

MacDonald, R. (2008) Disconnected Youth? Social exclusion, the ‘underclass’ & Economic Marginality Social Work & Society Vol. 6, No. 2. [Online] available at http://www.socwork.net/index.html

Mizen, P. (2003) The best days of your life? Youth, policy and Blair’s New Labour Critical Social Policy Vol. 23, No. 4, pp.453-476

Payne, J. Payne, C. (1994) Trends in job loss and recruitment in Britain 1979-1991 in White, M (ed.) Unemployment and Public Policy in a Changing Labour Market.

London: Policy Studies Institute, pp. pp.80-95