Exclusion calls for life skills training for unemployable young people

Disadvantaged young people in Britain should be offered “basic life skills” lessons, covering anger management and waking up on time, a government report recommends.

The study by the Social Exclusion Unit said that even the most low-level employment programmes are not working for about 200,000 young people who, the authors say, are far from ready to start work or training.

Instead of trying to give these young adults employment skills too soon, there should be ways to measure the “distance travelled” towards being employable, says the Transitions report.

The Department for Education and Skills said it is to review the lowest level employment training programme – Entry to Employment.

There is evidence that providers are avoiding recruiting young people who most need help because they may not complete courses within the prescribed time.

Even “the lowest rung of the qualifications ladder” is too high for the most deeply disadvantaged young adults, says the report, and new programmes must focus on basic life skills.

Susan Acland-Hood, editor of the report, said: “These are the really basic life skills that make you employable and actually make you social.”