Abstract
Using data from the YCS (Youth Cohort Study for England and Wales) - a national panel survey on youth transition from school to work - a statistical analysis is carried out in order to investigate changes in youth labour markets, and to the roles and functions of further education colleges after compulsory education as vocational pathways to employment. The paper finds that over the last decade, youth labour markets have significantly shifted from middle to lower levels in the occupational distribution, and have also been characterised by a trend towards greater casualisation and insecurity in employment, with a particular expansion of part-time and temporary jobs and jobs without training. Against this change in youth labour markets, further education colleges have encouraged more and more young people to stay on in education including higher education. At the same time, the evidence suggests that vocational education and qualifications remain to have important effects for young people who intend to enter the labour market by the age of 18: notably reducing the risk of being engaged in part-time and temporary employment and jobs without training, as well as reducing the chances of unemployment.
