11.12.2018

Realities of life for young people in UK job market revealed

The majority (61%) of 16-21-year olds in 2015-16 expect to be earning between £20,000 and £29,999 by the time they were 30. In reality, only 30% of those aged 30 earn within this bracket annually in 2017; according to new research. And while 8% predicted they would have a salary between £60,000 and £69,999 when they were 30, this is only true for 1% of 30-year olds in 2017. Training and qualification provider TheKnowledgeAcademy.com sought to uncover the realities of young people in the UK job market, though an analysis of research conducted by The Office for National Statistics*.

It was discovered that whilst the variety of jobs available has changed, job aspirations seemingly have not. In 2015-16 the top five jobs 16-21-year olds wanted to do when they were older was unchanged from the same age group back in 2010-11.

However, according to a study conducted by YouGov.co.uk for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 49% of young people do not feel prepared for the world of work. With 21% stating they feel there is a lack of opportunities in the sector they wish to work in.

Interestingly, The Knowledge Academy discovered that the proportion of people that ended up landing their dream job is few and far between. 11.22% stated they aspired to work in the Artistic, Literary and Media sector. However, the stark reality is that only 1.4% were recorded to be working within this field in 2017.

In fact, the top five jobs most aspired by those aged 16-21 showed a decline when compared to the actual proportion of those aged 22-29 working in the sector:

Teaching and Education (8.76% vs. 4.5%), Health Professionals (8.17% vs. 1.7%), Protective services (4.04% vs. 1.4%) and finally Nursing and Midwifery with 3.53% vs. the 1.8% who actually work within this field.

The Knowledge Academy can also reveal the striking differences between the expected earnings of 16-21-year olds by the age of 30 compared to the real-life earnings of a 30-year-old in 2017*.

It may come as a surprise, but 32% of 16-21-year olds expected to be earning from £0-£19,999 by the time they were 30 in 2015-16 (including with a degree and without). Of the 32%, 7% expected to be earning within this bracket if they had a degree, whilst 25% stated that they predicted to earn this much without a degree. Fascinatingly, they weren’t far off with 37% earning this salary.

The following differences in expected vs. real earnings were also discovered:

£20,000-£29,999: 61% vs. 30% (61% spilt into 21% with a degree and 40% without), £30,000-£39,999: 48% vs. 19% (48% spilt into 30% with a degree and 18% without), £40,000-£49,999: 27% vs. 7% (27% spilt into 19% with a degree and 8% without) and £50,000-£59,999 with 14% expecting to earn (10% with a degree and 4% without) vs. the 3% of 30 year-olds who have this salary.

Interestingly, only a very small amount of 16-21-year olds expected to be earning over £60,000 by the time they were 30. With only 8% (6% with a degree and 2% without) expecting to earn between £60,000-£69,999 vs. the 1% who earn that figure each year.

Thereafter, 6% (3% with a degree and 3% without) predicted they would be earning between £70,000-£79,999, when in reality only 1% earn this much. A finally 5% aimed to be earning at least £80,000 or more if they had a degree, when in fact 2% do.