Dissertation

Unemployed Life in Dundee:
An investigation of the social impacts of unemployment on 16 - 24 year olds and
their experiences of training initiatives in Dundee
Marnie Stirling
Sociology BSc (Hons)
2016
School of Social and Health Sciences
University of Abertay Dundee

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 3
Permission to Copy ................................................................................................ 4
Abstract ................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction............................................................................................................. 6
Literature Review.................................................................................................... 9
Methodology ......................................................................................................... 15
Chapter One
Youth Employment Initiatives.................................................................................. 21
Chapter Two
Stigma and Benefit Entitlement of 18 – 24 Year Olds.............................................. 28
Discussion............................................................................................................. 35
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 37
Bibliography.......................................................................................................... 38
Appendices
Appendix 1 Consent Form ...................................................................................... 46
Appendix 2 Questionnaire....................................................................................... 50
Appendix 3 Tool Box 16 – 18 Years Focus Group Transcript.................................. 56
Appendix 4 Interview with Craigowl Communities Staff Transcript .......................... 75
Appendix 5 Ethics Approval Letter ........................................................................ 102

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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Karen Smith, the Employment Engagement Manager at
Craigowl Communities. If it was not for Karen, none of this research would be
possible as she was the only person from all organisations I contacted willing to help
me conduct my research. Karen has done a lot for me, by organising the Tool Box
Group to take part in the focus group; arrange staff members to speak to me in an
interview; handed out questionnaires to clients and saved me time in printing
questionnaires and consent forms. We spent a lot of time emailing, late at night to
organise everything and for that, I am very grateful.
To the young men and George from the Tool Box focus group who took time out of
their morning to speak with me. It was great to meet everyone and spend time
talking and getting to know each person briefly. I really do hope everyone on the
Tool Box group manages to find an apprenticeship and become fully qualified so that
they can soon afford the holiday they want in Magaluf!
Thank you to the Craigowl Staff who took part in the interview, who gave me so
much to discuss in this research project; giving a voice to the 18 –24 year old group
that I did not have the opportunity to speak with personally; but also for highlighting
their own perspective on the issues facing staff and clients regarding unemployment
and work initiatives in Dundee.
Lastly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Andy Panay, who has been fantastic in
supporting me through this research project. Thank you for helping me focus my
research topic, reading over each chapter and offering constructive and detailed
feedback. But most importantly for being enthusiastic about my work, which has
made a positive impact on how I felt about completing this dissertation, spurring me
on to pursue further research opportunities within the university and in postgraduate
study. I am relieved that I have finished this project, but also sad that it has come to
an end as I have really enjoyed this year at university.

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Permission To Copy
Author: Marnie Stirling
Title:
Unemployed Life in Dundee: An investigation of the social
impact of unemployment on 16 – 24 year olds and their
experiences of training initiatives in Dundee
Qualification: Bsc (Hons) Sociology
Date of
Submission:
11 April 2016
* I agree that a copy may be made of the whole or any part of the above-
mentioned project report without further reference to the undersigned
or
* A copy shall not be made of the whole or any part of the above
mentioned project report without the written consent of the undersigned.
(* Please strike out whichever does not apply)
Signature: Marnie Stirling
Address: XXX

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Abstract
This dissertation intends to investigate the social impacts of unemployment for 16 –
24 for year olds and discover what their experiences of training initiatives are in
Dundee. A total of 14 young people aged 16 – 18 and 2 staff members from the
charity Craigowl Communities were interviewed to gather their opinions and
experiences at school and college as well as their feelings surrounding
unemployment. The Curriculum for Excellence has not been successful in its aim of
closing the attainment gap between pupils and has not adequately prepared young
people for work. Young people are being forced to stay in education, rather than
having a choice to work, because of their family's financial constraints. UK
Government initiatives which include employment schemes through
the JobCentre have not been successful, in part due to the Government's negative
opinions and stigmatisation of the unemployed and offering poor quality work
programmes. The UK government has taken a tough approach in reacting to the
financial crisis in 2008 which has meant making drastic cuts to the welfare budget.
Cuts to welfare will put young people most at risk of living in poverty because of the
rising cost of living, lack of employment opportunities and lower payments in wages
and benefits than those aged over 25.

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Introduction
The Scottish Government's (2014) seven year plan set a target to lower youth
unemployment by 40% by 2021. Statistics show unemployment is falling, but
research has indicated there are still employment issues facing young people,
particularly those who are the least academic at school, as they struggle to get
access into further education, or simply choose not to progress further. The purpose
of this investigation is to focus on the experiences of young people aged 16 - 24,
who are involved in training programmes in Dundee, to see if the changes both the
UK and Scottish governments have made to improve the opportunities for young
people, has benefited them. Current research indicates that school is only the first
step in being prepared for work, and young people need to continue into further
education to secure employment because employers are more likely to employ
people with higher levels of qualifications and experience. This is disadvantaging
young people who do not want to continue studying because of negative learning
experiences and those who did not receive good quality work experience, if at all.
Also, there are criticisms of government initiatives currently in place to reduce youth
unemployment as they do not fully prepare young people for life of work because
there is little acknowledgement that the current economy does not offer long term
security and prospects for young people. Research shows the government needs to
review its definition and calculations for levels of poverty as many people, even
those who are working, are classed as living in poverty and this means people have
to make decisions whether to learn/work or continue to be unemployed. Rifts are
developing within the Conservative party regarding the punitive measures proposed
by Chancellor George Osbourne, where more and more party members are showing
concerns regarding the effects that welfare cuts are having on their constituents. The
concerned constituents are not disabled and are not unemployed, but they are from
working families who are increasingly reliant on in-work benefits such as Tax Credits
which pays for childcare and tops up their wages as the cost of living increases. As
more and more citizens feel the effects of government cut backs, more awareness of
the resulting social issues are being brought to the public's attention. Although
awareness is being raised about the negative impacts of welfare cuts, there is little
attention paid to young people who are in a vulnerable transitional period into
adulthood.

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Following on from this introduction there is a literature review which outlines the key
research relevant to the experiences of working class pupils at secondary school
which indicates that class background affects educational attainment, and teacher
expectations and treatment of pupils. Low income families face financial difficulties in
supporting children in further education and training programmes as they may lose
necessary in-work benefits, which can lead to young people moving out of the
parental home to live independently. This can lead to financial insecurity as young
people under 25 receive reduced amounts of JobSeekers Allowance and housing
benefit compared to those over 25. Also, difficulties continue as there is little financial
help available for young people when in full time work while receiving national
minimum wage as the wage bands are not sustainable for independent living. The
wage and benefit entitlements given to people are calculated on government poverty
and social exclusion indicators which are outdated and in need of review as they are
not reflective of the current cost of living and of family structures.
Following on from the literature review, a methodology section describes how the
young men from the Tool Box training programme, run by Craigowl Communities,
took part in a focus group and completed questionnaires to discuss their experiences
of work experience, careers guidance and overall learning at school as well as their
feelings of unemployment in Dundee. Staff at Craigowl Communities took part in an
interview to explain the situations of their clients who are aged 18 – 24, as well as
their experiences working to improve the learning and training opportunities of young
people who are part of Craigowl Communities employment initiatives. Further
information into how and why data collection was carried out, as well as issues and
constraints that arose are also covered. This dissertation’s findings will be split into
two chapters which will firstly focus on the experiences of young people ages 16 –
18 while at school and what impact the change in learning structures to the
Curriculum for Excellence has made and whether it has achieved its aim to improve
employability when pupils come to enter the world of work. In addition, we look at
what employment initiatives are in place to help young people who decide to enrol in
apprenticeships and training programmes offered by the charity Craigowl
Communities.

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The second chapter will focus on the effects of unemployment for 18 – 24 year olds
who claim benefits and what financial difficulties they face, and how this affects the
choices they make when taking on opportunities available to them through
JobCentre work trials and programmes through Craigowl. We will see that UK
government rhetoric which reinforces social norms creates stigma around youth
unemployment which is failing to acknowledge the difficulties faced by
disadvantaged young people, creating further damaging effects within society.
A discussion and conclusion then follows to summarise the key findings from this
investigation, and offer recommendations for future studies. Appendices include
transcripts of the focus group and interview which are used to highlight key aspects
of individuals who took part in this investigation and its relevance within wider youth
unemployment research.

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Literature Review
Since the economic crisis of 2008 the Conservative and Scottish governments have
been working hard to encourage the economy to grow again and get those aged 16
– 17 years into work, using initiatives involving apprenticeships, training and work
contracts specifically designed for young people, as well as implementing better
career guidance and literacy tests in schools. Those not in employment, education
and training (NEET) struggle to find full time employment after leaving school and
entering higher education, as they cannot compete within the global market which
recruits individuals with the highest achievements in the pool of applicants. It is the
aim of the UK governments to target school leavers for training initiatives to lower the
rates of long term unemployment in young adults between 18 – 25 years as they are
at a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion later on in life.
Andy Furlong (2013) used European data sets to show that 13% of young people
aged 16 years were choosing to continue studying away from school or enter
employment where training is offered. Of those who leave without upper secondary
qualifications are severely disadvantaged when entering the labour market,
particularly during economic down turns (Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD), 2012). This analysis is also confirmed by Bill (2009,
pp.127 - 135) as he found there has been an increasing trend within the job market
of employers seeking and favouring high quality educational qualifications over work
experience - even if the jobs themselves are low skilled. OECD figures from 2010
shows less young people in the UK are enrolling in vocational training than in 2000
and are choosing to stay on at school to enrol in tertiary education (OECD, 2012).
It is widely accepted that parental education is a significant factor in determining the
social class young people belong to, which in turn affects their own subsequent
education experience (Furlong, 2013). Young people with poor educational
achievements will have parents who are also poorly educated and are most likely to
be situated within the working class, employed in low skilled, low income jobs.
Following research from Furlong (2013) we see that young working class people do
not experience the same opportunities to better themselves as their middle and
upper class peers, due to the standards in education received; their reluctance to
learn due to negative schooling experiences and lack of income and savings to

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attend further education to gain the necessary qualifications for better paid jobs.
Furlong goes further by highlighting the difficulties with the streaming system used in
schools which separates children into classes depending on their academic ability.
Working class pupils are more likely to be placed into lower ability streams where
they lack the attention which is given to their middle class peers in the higher
streamed teaching structure. This is thought to be the result of teachers’ lower
expectations regarding the ability of working class pupils who may choose to dismiss
struggling students in favour of the higher achievers in order to progress them further
with their studies; along with less experienced teachers placed in lower achieving
classes which can affect the learning experience for pupils negatively.
Poor educational attainment, coupled with lack of skills, results in people who are
more likely to be unemployed during peak working ages of 16 - 25. Demographics
show that there is more unemployment in Northern areas of Britain including those
who are from working class backgrounds. Looking at unemployment rates of men
and women separately we find that 5% of men in Dundee are unemployed which is
double the UK and Scotland averages of 2.1%. Women’s statistics are similar with
2.1% unemployed in Dundee, compared to 1.4% of Scotland averages and 1.3% in
the UK. Of those unemployed in Dundee between April 2014 - May 2015 the rate for
16 – 24 year olds was 15.6% (ONS Regional Labour Market September 2015).
There has not been extensive qualitative research carried out to understand how
young people perceive the quality of assistance they have received in order to help
them find permanent work and gain additional skills, but also how successful they
believe the current initiatives to be for them. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) only
have experimental data available which shows that the education and training
programmes currently running are benefitting 16 - 17 years olds the most, reporting
that 18 – 19 year olds are accounting for 60% of the total of unemployed and inactive
participants. (Participation Measure, 2015). The methodology used in the gathering
of these statistics uses ‘aging up’ of census records where it is assumed the number
of young people currently in Scotland is the same as the last census, rather than
using certain population values. So far the figures have fallen short by 10% the
number of actual 16 – 19 year olds in Scotland and the information that was supplied
to SDS via educational institutions, local authorities and the Department for Work
and Pensions (DWP). Caution should be taken when looking at unemployment data

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as there are an unknown number of people who have chosen not to claim benefits
who are depending on parents and friends financially. People who still live at home
with their parents and who are NEET, are more likely to be part of this unreported,
inactive population and therefore the true figure may be higher. An investigation
needs to be carried out to see why these initiatives are not meeting the targets for 18
– 19 year olds who are of age to claim for JobSeekers Allowance (JSA) and what
improvements may be needed to increase employment rates.
Furlong (2013) may have shed light on the reason for higher rates of unemployment
of 18 – 24 year olds by showing that employers have a tendency to employ school or
college leavers rather than those who are long term unemployed because rates of
minimum wages increase with age, and also evidence that stigma hovers over the
long term unemployed as they are seen as having no work ethic and are unreliable.
This has negative effects on young people’s careers as it leads to what Furlong
describes as ‘scarring’ which is backed up by McDonald (2009, pp. 167 - 175) who
states long term fragmented employment is not beneficial for young people and can
lead to lasting and more serious unemployment problems. It has also been seen by
Furlong (2006, pp. 553 - 569) that government initiatives are not well equipped to
deal with preparing young people for work as they have not recognised that the
current economy does not offer long term security and prospects for young people.
Further, youth unemployment and precarious work cannot be thought of as a result
of one single cause and the use of the term NEET is in itself inadequate to describe
the issue.
The UK government has imposed benefit caps to all claimants so that it never
exceeds the minimum average rate of pay for full time employment with the purpose
to deter people choosing a career out of unemployment and relying on the state. The
government heavily penalises 18 - 24 year olds by further reducing their benefit
payments by 20% compared to those over 25 years irrespective of circumstances.
The government is expecting these individuals to make up the difference through
financial assistance from their parents, which in some if not most cases is not
possible as their families may also been on benefits or low earners.
Furlong and Cartmel (2003) found that young men who were long term unemployed
came from low income families who found it difficult to support them in further

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education and training. These men took to doing jobs on the side while claiming JSA
which were short term and at short notice, almost usually cash in hand, just to
provide extra income for the household. This was justified by the men when young
children were in the household. Furlong and Cartmel explain that with sanctions from
the JobCentre once this work was discovered further entrenched young people and
instead of focusing on finding work, they instead were focused rather, on making
ends meet.
For decades there has been a shortage in social housing due to the Right to Buy
scheme introduced by the Conservative government from 1980. With the number of
good quality, affordable housing decreasing there is now an increase of multi-
generation households. The government relies on the assumption that most young
people stay in the family home until they secure full time, stable work, stating half of
young people leave home at 24 years which creates the discrepancies in benefit
payments for those under 25 years old. However, some young people may choose
to move out sooner than the expected norm for various reasons including family
breakdown; coming from a poorer household and feeling like a strain on the family;
moving to find work and also choosing to become independent from parents as this
is a milestone from youth to adulthood (Mulder, 2009 pp. 203 - 210). Mulder believes
there is not a culture of worklessness within young people even though the general
public frequently expresses concern about teenage pregnancy, welfare-dependent
young parents and an inter-generational culture of worklessness. These negative
stereotypes are perpetuated by the media using extreme cases and sensationalist
newspaper stories, as well as television documenatries series commonly referred to
as ‘poverty porn’.
MacDonald, Shildrick and Furlong (2013, pp. 199 - 220) decided to see if they could
find three-generation-workless households within very deprived parts of the UK in
order to find truth in government and media rhetoric. They found 47 people across
20 families in Glasgow and Middlesbrough but could only interview one family across
three generations because older family members had died or were too ill to take part.
They had to expand their search to include families claiming all ranges of benefits,
not just JSA as they struggled to get any participants. They aptly named their study
‘Hunting the Yeti and shooting zombies’ because even with monetary incentives they
could not find one household with 3 generations of worklessness (something which

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has now become a popular urban legend) stating that young people within the
families did not want to be like their parent(s) who were long term unemployed and
did not expect to make a ‘career’ out of unemployment.
Furlong (2013) states social exclusion is linked to long-term unemployment and
poverty but the problem with researching poverty and social exclusion is how to
define it and how the government defines it. Levitas (2006) sees poverty and social
exclusion highly complex with many contributory factors that involve the restriction of
resources, rights, goods and services, and the inability to participate in the normal
activities available to the majority of people in a society (pp. 123 – 160) Levitas has
criticised the European Union’s (EU) use of her definition of poverty and social
exclusion because the definition of social exclusion is interpreted differently by each
state with most only relying on stereotypical assumptions of what poverty is,
meaning that official statistics vary across Europe and may not be accurate
interpretations.
The recession along with austerity measures leave young people badly affected, with
child poverty rising in Scotland (Scottish Parliament, 2014) and the welfare budget
slashed by £12 billion by 2020 (Osborne, 2015). As modern lifestyles change from
the traditional nuclear family set up, government policies regarding welfare also need
to change to reflect the social changes. If the government expects young people to
be flexible with their work career then they need to be flexible with its citizens also.
The Scottish government has taken on board recommendations from charities, youth
organisations and local authorities to tackle the unemployment rate and have set out
a seven year plan which so far is successful as Scotland as of May 2015 has the
highest rate of employment in the whole of the UK at 73.5%. The general answer for
lowering the level of unemployment is to encourage young people down the route of
further education (be it academic or vocational) but also to increase the basic level of
education at secondary school to a higher standard and to give them the skills to
compete within the global market and improve the chances of long term and stable
employment.
The aim of this project is to collect quantitative and qualitative data from young
people in order to assess their experiences of the education and training initiatives
available to them, with a focus on the Curriculum of Excellence learning structures,

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career guidance, and work experience, to see how successful they feel these
initiatives are in making sure they secure full time, stable work. This project will
highlight current statistics which report government initiatives having a positive effect
on youth employment and find out of this is the case for young people in Dundee. As
well as this it is hope to see how young people feel the government is treating their
current circumstances and if they feel that the initiatives available to support them
transition from school life to working life are indeed helping or if they believe it only
perpetuates a cycle of unemployment which continues through to their mid – 20’s
and beyond.

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Methodology
When I began the research on youth unemployment for 16 – 24 year olds in Dundee
I contacted various organisations to ask permission to work with them and their
clients. I approached Dundee’s JobCentre Plus and although staff were happy to
help, they informed me that permission must be granted from the Regional Manager
who denied me access due to client confidentiality. The only organisation who was
happy to take part in the research project was Craigowl Communities which is a
charity based training centre; part of the Hillcrest Group working with Dundee City
Council, Skills Development Scotland, private companies and the JobCentre. They
provide learning opportunities, training, qualifications and guidance to people from
ages 16 – 65 years who want to improve their circumstances by focusing on
supporting people to take steps towards training; work experience; improving
confidence and self-esteem and providing advice on managing debt, benefits and
budgeting. Further they provide opportunities to obtain practical skills and
qualifications as well as providing advice and support on sustaining tenancies. It is
very much an organisation suited for people who have had setbacks in their lives
who need a little extra support which they struggle to find elsewhere within the
community.
The participation of all at Craigowl Communities was based on the knowledge that all
information and opinions given were not representative of the Hillcrest Group as an
organisation, but of the individuals that took part. As only one organisation is
involved in the project, the data will only be relevant for the young people who are
unemployed and proactive in seeking work, training and education through Craigowl
Communities, and is therefore not representative of all unemployed young people in
Dundee. Ideally the JobCentre Plus would have been an excellent source for
participants with various reasons for unemployment, as well as working alongside
Craigowl Communities as their participation could have allowed for a more
comprehensive study.
I met with the staff at Craigowl Communities before any data collection was
undertaken in order to explain the aim of the research project and how staff would be
able to help me organise focus groups with their clients. Each member of staff is in
charge of a number of people based on their age and their needs from monetary

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advice, training and employment. We decided the best way to conduct interviews
with participants was by focus groups based on which particular work programme
participants were involved in. Due to the timing of data collection, there was
difficulties getting access to groups as programmes had either just come to an end,
or were yet to begin. There was also staff absence for a time which meant that the
only focus group possible to arrange was with young men aged 16 – 18 taking part in
the Tool Box programme in order to gain trade knowledge and experience covering
areas from construction to joinery. At this meeting I handed out 10 pilot
questionnaires to make sure questions were easily understood and answers relevant
to the questions asked before rolling out the main questionnaire given to all
participants who were available for the focus group. I received 6 pilot questionnaires
back and modified wording of two questions for clarity.
I asked specifically to undertake focus groups instead of one to one interviewing,
because I did not think I would get sufficient answers from participants as they may
feel obligated to tell me something which they believe they want me to hear rather
than their own truthful experiences and views. Also, one to one interviews could
create an atmosphere which may feel like an interrogation which would be the most
confounding aspect given that the topic of unemployment and income is so sensitive.
With focus groups there may be the opportunity to see a different dynamic that would
not arise from one to one interviews where each person in the group will add to the
discussion something that others may not have thought of or have been
uncomfortable saying in front of only myself. As participants are with people who are
in similar circumstances and have known each other for a number of months they
will already have a level of trust which they do not have of me. The information
supplied in focus groups gives a general overview and feeling regarding youth
unemployment for those aged 16 – 18 years old from their own perspective, but
there is an issue with all focus groups that not all subjects participate in the
conversation and this was combatted by using questionnaires, completed after the
focus group.
As there were issues arranging focus groups with female participants and those
aged 18 – 24 years, I asked if it was possible to meet for one to one interviews with
clients from these demographics who would come into the centre for appointments
with staff so that I could still have a representative sample of participants for

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analysis. Due to timing, this was not possible, so as a last resort I spoke with two
members of staff who have over 4 years’ experience working very closely with young
men and women aged 18 – 24 years to share the experiences of their clients and
offer a perspective from the staff at the training centre.
The focus group was arranged with 8 people who were from the same training
course and had not previously filled out a questionnaire to make sure that
participants had not already prepared answers beforehand in order to discount
manipulation of answers. The focus group took place at the training centre in the
Hilltown area Dundee where I asked questions which were similar to those asked in
the questionnaire so answers from both the group and questionnaires could be
analysed together to see if there were any discrepancies in answers but also to
improve the understanding of what it means to be unemployed for these young
people which might not have been covered in the questionnaires.
The interviews were structured to an extent so that key questions were covered from
the questionnaires, but still allowing for conversations to go off to areas which could
be interesting to the research. By offering an ear to participants they may feel
positive about answering questions because it is not often that they are given the
opportunity to express their views on their circumstances from other organisations
that are driven by quantitative data only, such as the UK and Scottish government,
Skills Development Scotland et cetera.
Before the interview, focus group and questionnaires were completed, formal
consent (see appendix 1) was asked from all participants where they were given full
disclosure of who I am, what the purpose of the focus group and questionnaires was,
along with a general overview of the questions I would be asking. I also supplied my
contact information should any participants feel they needed to speak to me about
any aspect of the research or wish to be informed about the final results of the
project. The consent forms were signed to say that all participants agree to
anonymously take part and understand that they are free to withdraw at any time but
also whatever information they do provide will be treated as confidential and used
only for the purposes of the research project. I felt this latter point was important to
emphasise to participants in order to gain trust.

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Qualitative methods such as focus groups and interviews are relevant for this project
because there is a lack of rich and in depth analysis on young people’s experiences
of unemployment, particularly from government research which focuses almost
solely on quantitative methods. This can be said to depersonalise the experience,
creating an apathy resulting in the Conservative government’s idea that people make
‘careers’ out of unemployment and precarious work because welfare payments are
far too generous compared to monthly working wages. To solve this problem they
believe the welfare system must be cut back to a minimum to encourage people to
“work themselves free” from benefits (Iain Duncan Smith, 2015). There is a missed
opportunity to receive feedback on the true effects of government initiatives to
improve youth employment which are hidden from statistics which could improve the
services for future clients. Also, the data collected from focus groups and interviews
sheds light on how young people’s lives are shaped when living in the circumstances
that they do which can be used to bring awareness to improve public opinions which
in turn could see an improvement in policy and welfare reforms; particularly
regarding the weekly entitlement of benefits and the cost of living when young
people are living independently. Qualitative methods have been used in Furlong’s
(2004, 2006, 2014) research into youth unemployment which has helped to critique
Government unemployment rhetoric and educational initiatives currently in place.
As Bill (2009) found, there has been less young people in the UK enrolling in
vocational training than in 2000, opting to stay on at school to enrol in further
education. But this does not solve the problem of a section of young people who do
not wish to stay in full time education; choosing instead to enter the world of work as
soon as possible. There has been a lot of debate regarding the changes in Scottish
qualifications with the move from Standard Grades to National Qualifications levels 1
- 5 which were initiated by the Curriculum of Excellence (CfE) in order to improve
Scotland’s educational attainment level and youth employment. There has been
mixed responses to the CfE’s changes in learning structures and as the young
people who were involved in this research have been some of the first young people
to experience the new programme, the focus group would get their own views on
how they felt school prepared them for successful learning and work which would not
be covered in government and other bodies’ statistical data. As Furlong (2004)
pointed out “[t]he young people included in the studies reviewed…provide some

19
powerful insights into the ways in which school experiences can disadvantage those
from lower working class families” which is something unattainable through
quantitative methods. Qualitative research can be used to encourage teachers and
employers to see past the stigma of poor attainment at school and social
backgrounds and encourage businesses to seek out young people who need work
experience and good quality training through placements and apprenticeships.
Furlong and Cartmel’s (2003) qualitative study on young unemployed men showed
that they were staying at home while claiming benefits in order to support their family
and resorted to work on the side, showing that benefits are not adequate for
sustainable living and my interview with staff would go well in seeing if this is also the
case in Dundee and could highlight the difficulties young people face due to benefit
entitlement (or lack of); the effects of sanctions, as well as finding out what income
they believe they would need to receive in order to live within their means without
having the worries of deprivation as described by Levitas (2006). Levitas states that
though her poverty indicators are used by EU countries to determine levels of
poverty, “there is a need for more research, probably of a qualitative kind, to explore
the impact of poverty and worklessness on social relations. This would facilitate the
refinement and development of the indicators used in the PSE (Poverty and Social
Exclusion) Survey.”
It would be useful for organisations like Skills Development Scotland to have
qualitative data targeted at 18 – 24 years olds in order to see how successful their
initiatives are in the long run to supporting 16 – 17 year olds and how local
businesses are important in reducing the chances of long term unemployment for
young people by encouraging work programmes for those who have been
unemployed and looking for work. By analysing young people’s opinions on the way
they are treated because of being long term unemployed may be key to making
meaningful changes so that the numbers of those long term unemployed is reduced
but also the ‘scarring’ from the process shown from McDonald (2009) and Furlong
(2013).
The Craigowl manager kept all completed questionnaires for a maximum time of
seven weeks in her private office which was only accessible through PIN locked
doors through reception. This allowed sufficient time for the participants to complete

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and return them as some did not meet staff as regularly as others. Answers from
questionnaires were inputted onto an Excel spreadsheet to be used for data analysis
purposes. All hard copies were stored securely at home and destroyed after the
submission of the research project.
Focus groups were recorded using a dictation machine and recordings transferred to
a password protected personal laptop and then deleted from the recorder for
confidentiality reason. All recordings were transcribed to include only the questions
asked and answered given (see appendices 3 and 4) because it was not relevant to
the research to supply fully annotated transcripts as discourse analysis was not a
main feature for this project.

21
Chapter One
Youth Employment Initiatives
In a UK Government press release in 2015 following the UK Commission for
Employment and Skills (UKCES) report on labour skills, the number of positions left
vacant because employers cannot find people with the skills or knowledge to fill them
has risen by 130% since 2011 (UKCES, 2015). Over a third of vacancies in
electricity, gas and water and construction are now due to skills shortages where
there was a marked increase in the amount of skill shortage vacancies among
Machine Operatives, Skilled Trades, unskilled or semi-skilled occupations. The
figures show ‘skills shortage vacancies’ now make up nearly a quarter of all job
openings, leaping from 91,000 in 2011 to 209,000 in 2015. (UKCES, 2015).
The report stated employers should not be relying on secondary schools to fully
prepare young people for work and should be prepared to have continuous on the
job training to develop skills to encourage business growth (UKCES, 2015). Craigowl
Communities staff believed charities and third sector organisations are footing the bill
for youth employment initiatives without adequate funding from the government,
which is putting a huge strain on these organisations to fund young people into
stable employment. (Appendix 4, lines 724 – 732).
Although the change to the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) was put in place by the
Scottish Government in order to broaden the horizons for young people and close
the gap in inequality by offering skills which are seen to be important for entering the
world of work, Scott’s (2015) submission to the CfE’s team, part of the OECD found
that there were huge disparities in educational attainment across all of Scotland’s
publicly funded schools. Head teachers who were interviewed stated to have ‘no one
approach to developing a secondary curriculum structure to successfully implement
CfE.’ From the size and location of the school, to the number of surrounding primary
schools and colleges, all impacting on how head teachers structure their CfE
programme. Some schools tend to focus their structure on perceived local needs for
employment and other schools follow the local authority’s requests for structures and
chosen courses. Scott (2015) also highlighted curricular narrowing with subjects,
seeing significant reduction in enrolment, particularly in modern languages caused

22
by schools implementing less course options for S4 students which can vary from 5
to 8 subjects per year.
In addition, Scott (2015) sees an accumulation of local council staff downsizing, cost-
cutting and other factors affected by austerity measures, including reduced funding
from the SNP government, leaving councils struggling to keep on top of their schools
attainment levels. (Scottish Government, Budget Review 2015). The cost cutting has
resulted in local authorities allocating certain subjects to schools and allows students
from all over the city to choose these classes. In order to make large class sizes
while cutting cost, schools will bus out pupils to attend their chosen classes at
various schools (Dundee City Council, 2011). Although it may save money, Craigowl
staff saw negative effects for pupils including bullying and lack of confidence
(Appendix 4, line numbers 525 – 549). Further concerns were raised by Craigowl
staff about how teachers are not properly prepared to manage struggling pupils in
class, showing favouritism stating:
"it is that early identification from teachers. I mean they sit down and
have meetings and start to put people into different classes, see
behavioural issues...they have so much power to influence your
younger years." (Appendix 4, lines 273 – 276)
As well as this, facilities offered in school are dependent on the pupil’s postcode
which would greatly affect their learning experience and future.
"If you've got two people who aren't academic at [academic versus
non-academic] schools you'll see them have a massively, massively
different journey because they were at different schools" (Appendix 4,
lines 506 - 514),
which Scott (2015) also sees as an issue for school pupils. Overall National Level 3 -
5 enrolment has dropped by 17% since the introduction of CfE/nNQs (New National
Qualifications), with attainment dropping by 24%. Only around a half of this is due to
changed S4 curricular structures. The greatest hit from these figures are the lower
achievers which Scott says ‘…compounds Scotland’s existing problems of social
justice and equality of opportunity’ (Scott, 2015). The CfE has a lot of issues but
Scott sees the importance in using The Wood Report (2014) to develop appropriate
skills for learning, life and work for all learners and the need to acknowledge wider

23
achievements in a way which encourages youth employment and not just focus on
academic ability. The Wood Report (2014) recommended a need for significantly
enhanced quality work experience for young people while at school and college
because it is important to prepare young people for their transitions from education
into work. In the same vein, the report also emphasised a need for better career
guidance, stressing it is also up to all teachers to better understand employability
and modern work skills to promote different avenues to employment.
The Wood Report sees apprenticeships at National Level 3 and above becoming
one of Scotland’s main training pathways into employment opportunities by allowing
the first year of a number of the three and four year apprenticeships to be done while
young people are still at school, known as Foundation Apprenticeships. There also
needs to be the demand for jobs from employers and so initiatives have been put in
place to encourage businesses to take on young people and to invest in their training
though “Regional Invest in Youth Groups”. However, only 29% of employers recruit
young people from education and only 13% of employers take on apprentices
(Employer Skills Survey, 2013). To establish positive and successful relationships,
schools, pupils and industries need to be involved with one another so to benefit
both young people and employers according to UKCES (Employer Perspectives
Survey, 2012). Craigowl staff tended to agree with the action that needs to be taken,
but pointed to the fact that there are still issues with basic life skills such as writing
curricula vitae, job applications and interviews. These worthwhile skills not taught in
school which would prepare pupils in other aspects of working life. There was
scepticism of the CfE, and as to whether open days with employers is a benefit to
schools as there is no acknowledgement of the pupils who want to leave school as
soon as possible and go straight into work. They simply cater for the pupils who were
already prepared and decided on going down the route of further education
(Appendix 4, line number 237 – 260).
Although the report states that a relationship will be formed between schools and
colleges in order for apprentices to still stay at school while gaining qualifications and
training, there is still the question of will it be open to those who are struggling at
school academically, or who do not want to continue with full time education. It is
also worth mentioning that there has not been much thought into the impact of these
initiatives on the older section of people from 18 – 24 years who have missed out on

24
these opportunities. What incentives are there for employers to hire and train older
members of staff who have been out of education for any given length of time or lack
skills and confidence to seek out apprenticeships and employment?
It is fair to say that industries need to work hard with colleges to get their students
work ready, but there are difficulties facing the least academic getting into college in
order to see the benefits of these initiatives. When speaking to the young men from
the Tool Box programme about work experience and how they would obtain it, they
said they would need to apply to college if the Tool Box scheme was not available to
them. They believe they would struggle to get the opportunity to attend college
because of the number of applicants fighting for places, but also it was daunting to
leave school. One participant had enrolled at college previously and had had to
withdraw because of low attendance, due to boredom of the school – like structure,
although he passed all his assessments. (Appendix 3, line numbers 37 – 63, 146 –
152).
Small/Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) are currently eligible for ‘Adopt an
Apprentice’ where employers take on part trained apprentices who were let go from
previous employment; ‘Flexible Training Opportunities’, which is a discretionary fund
to allow small businesses to access training for employees; and the ‘Employer’s
Equality Action Fund’, where employers are given help to recruit young people from
all backgrounds. There also was another scheme: Scotland’s Employer Recruitment
Incentive (SERI) but it is now closed to new starts due to the uncertainty of the UK
government’s spending review (SERI, 2016). All of these incentives, the
development of Foundation Apprenticeships and the abolition of National Insurance
for those aged under 21 (UK Government, 2015), should significantly reduce the
costs of recruiting a young person for small businesses. With all the opportunities
available for employers, with an emphasis on small businesses, it could be the
possibility that employers are not aware of funding that they could receive. Therefore
collective action needs to be taken by all organisations involved in young people’s
opportunities, including schools, colleges, local authorities and employment agencies
to promote and support small businesses to recruit and train young people beyond
school, and the Modern Apprenticeship programme. Another option from the Wood
Report, is to follow the example of the construction sector which promotes training
levies. By gathering different sectors and conglomerate them together to invest and

25
share resources, a steady flow of people can be kept in training, even when there is
difficulties recruiting at certain times. Hopefully by getting local authorities from other
areas joining together there will be less risk of young people suffering from a post
code lottery of opportunities seen during their school life.
Even though the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Youth Workforce Final
Report (2014) states that there has been improvements with the CfE to get young
people into positive destinations after leaving school, it seems they are leaving it too
late with the recommendations of introducing vocational classes to pupils in the later
stage of school which is during S5 and S6. Perhaps it would be more worthwhile to
do as the CfE says and bring the vocational structures in as early as possible to
school from at least S3 during the time pupils are studying for their National 4’s and
5’s. By offering courses earlier, this may give pupils more opportunity to enter into
apprenticeships while they are still at school, and may encourage them to either stay
on to senior school, or to seek employment as soon as they have completed
National 5’s. There is a real sense that those part of the Tool Box programme at
Craigowl did not want to stay on at school even if they needed the qualifications. It is
not an incentive for the people who need the most support to stay on at school and
more attention should be made on this, as well as the minimum standard in
attainment when leaving school
"Michelin has gone into their local community secondary which is a
hotspot that's got low figures that have vocational units in that school…
They've actually done a bit of good work, Michelin."
"That was one of Dundee's most failing schools, but now it isn't."
(Appendix 4, line number 495 – 500).
Again, this was another area mentioned in the Wood Report where the Commission
did not favour separate academic and vocational streams for pupils as they should
be able to participate in both. ‘Our recommendations to widen senior phase options
should contribute to more positive destinations among young people including those
at risk of disengaging early from education.’ (Wood Report, 2014, pp. 36).
When speaking to the 16 – 18 year olds who are part of the Tool Box scheme at
Craigowl, all of them agreed that they did not receive adequate guidance at school,
including those who reached S6. All but one young man stated they were not given

26
enough support because they did not want to continue onto university, but also that
they gained nothing meaningful during their period of work experience; if they were
ever offered it (Appendix 3, line numbers 68 – 88). This goes to show that the reports
from Scott and Wood are reflective of the situation in Dundee where different High
Schools in the city are offering different opportunities to their pupils which can only
have a negative impact on pupils. This all relates back to the problems associated
with the structural changes in the secondary schooling system, with the change to
the CfE, where schools have been left to their own devices to set up what they feel is
the ‘best’ for their students, even if the attainment gap is widening between
‘academic’ and ‘non-academic’ pupils.
Despite facing many difficulties there is a sense of optimism with all the young men
who are part of the Tool Box programme, believing that they will become fully
qualified and be in full employment, even though they have bad experiences of
school; do not believe there are enough opportunities for young people in Dundee
and sceptical of the UK Government’s pledge to introduce new apprenticeships for
young people. As found with Furlong’s (2007) study on educational participation of
14 – 19 year olds, although pupils from all social classes and backgrounds are
staying on at school for longer, there is a tendency for the pupils with lower
attainment to lose interest and confidence in their ability, as well as losing the
motivation to learn.
The Tool Box apprentices appreciated a need for qualifications in order to get decent
jobs, but felt that they were never given the same treatment by teachers as their high
flying peers and so school was just a means to an end and an opportunity to meet
with friends. Now, with a lot more motivation and confidence to learn these, young
men were all more than happy to take a reduction in wages by being an apprentice,
knowing that once qualified they would be on a comfortable and sustainable income.
It was concerning that there was someone in the group aged 16 who left school at 13
without qualifications, and was given no guidance and support before leaving. It
seems that the Tool Box programme has been a much needed boost to his self-
esteem and giving him the opportunity to better himself while receiving a little money
which goes towards supporting his new family, something which he would not
otherwise have access to until he was 18 and eligible for state benefits.

27
Although all participants of this study have recognised that the government is taking
steps to tackle the issues of youth unemployment, they all still see a lot of work to be
done and just as Furlong (2006, pp. 553 - 569) states, the government is not doing
the best it can in understanding and taking on board the reality that traditional jobs
and careers are becoming less common; there is a need to change how young
people are prepared for work, which will be changeable, and at times precarious,
given the current economic climate which is forcing employers in all sectors to
downsize.

28
Chapter Two
Stigma and Benefit Entitlement affecting 18 – 24 Year Olds
Owen Jones’ book, ‘Chavs: the demonisation of the working class’, investigates the
reality of the working class today, arguing that the media and politicians are creating
a damaging caricature of the working class; portraying them as feckless and
scrounging on society. This demonisation, he argues, fails to admit that the problems
and inequalities seen in the working class lies blame with the changes in government
policies made by the Conservative and New Labour governments from 1979.
Thatcher proclaimed ‘there is no such thing as society’ because individuals should
take responsibility for themselves in order to improve their situation, rather than rely
on their neighbours who fund the welfare system (Thatcher, 1988). From 1994
Thatcher’s legacy continued in Tony Blair’s concept of ‘The Third Way’ which
encouraged people to take credit from banks and manage that debt responsibly,
which included subprime mortgages. This culture of financialisation led to the
recession in 2008 which exacerbated the effects of poverty for the working class
(Jones, 2012). An insidious rhetoric of ‘them versus us’ amongst the working class
developed, where ‘workless families’ were seen as failures, and their children would
follow the same culture of worklessness. This general theory of ‘an intergenerational
culture of worklessness’ is repeated in tabloid newspapers (MacDonald et al., 2013)
as they create the image of a terrible under class of society, throwing around names
such as NEDs (Non Educated Delinquents) and CHAVs (Council House and
Violence) as a way of identifying these people as a group amongst themselves.
When asked about stigma associated with unemployment, all participants from the
focus group said that they experience sympathy and understanding as they have just
left school but considered long term unemployment to be a sign of laziness. The staff
at Craigowl believed stigma is only attached to the older generation who are
unemployed because people realise there are no opportunities for young people in
Dundee (Appendix 3, line numbers 454 – 466, Appendix 4, line numbers 452 - 470).
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary since 2010 stated his
“…big passion is welfare reform… I actually think we are on the
threshold of a new renaissance. It is a fantastic time to be alive if you’re
British” (Duncan Smith, 2016a).

29
Unfortunately within 4 weeks of making this statement he resigned from his position
as he felt his welfare reforms were too severe (Duncan Smith, 2016b). Reforms
passed through parliament focus on the reduction of benefits, of which affect those
aged under 25 who are already disadvantaged with weekly benefit payments of
£57.90 compared to £73.10 for those aged over 25 (UK Government, 2016). The
Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2015 announced the welfare budget will be slashed
during the Summer Budget because "the benefits system should not support
lifestyles and rents that are not available to the taxpayers who pay for that system,”
while offering the advice to those affected: "The best route out of poverty is work"
(Osborne, 2015). Unfortunately this only further marginalises those reliant on
benefits as they take the brunt of the misdirected anger of the country’s low paid
workers.
A staple of television entertainment is to delve into the lives of benefit claimants. This
genre of programming referred to as ‘poverty porn’ includes titles such as “How To
Get a Council House” (Head, 2013), “Life on the Dole” (Harman, 2014) and a live
broadcast of “The Great Big Benefits Wedding” (Johnson, 2015) where viewers are
supposed to feel outraged by a low income couple claiming working tax credits
thriftily creating a wedding from a £800 loan from a pay day loan company.
As the Conservative Government strip back benefit entitlement, the Scottish
Government has increased spending to those affected by welfare cuts. In 2013 the
Scottish Government added an additional £20 million to the £18 million allocated to
the welfare mitigation spending budget given by the UK Government. The Scottish
Government also established the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF), replacing the
Welfare Fund which the UK Government abolished in 2013. These safety nets have
been put in place by the Scottish Government because of the worrying number of
people (18% of the population) currently classed in Scotland as living in relative
poverty (Scottish Government, 2014).
Although school leavers aged 16 – 17 are of eligible to receive the National Minimum
Wage (NMW) of £3.87 per hour, 16 – 18 year olds enrolled in an apprenticeship are
only entitled to £3.30 per hour which also applies to any apprentice over the age of
19 during their first year of training. The focus group believed they get good money
for being an apprentice saying:

30
"Yeah. It's worth it in the end. You can make up for it during your
apprenticeship with your homers and that” (Appendix 3, line numbers
443 – 444)
but they still lived at home and were not aware of the costs involved in living
independently from their parents.
18 – 20 year olds receive £5.30 per hour and anyone over 21 years will get £6.70
per hour. From April 2016 the UK government has promised that the national living
wage (NLW) will become applicable to all people over 25 years old at £7.20 per hour
(UK Government, 2015). Although the NLW has been publicised as a rate of pay
which will massively benefit working people, it is much less than the voluntary living
wage (LW) some of Scotland’s public services pay at £8.25 per hour which applies to
everyone over 18 years old (Living Wage Accreditation, 2016).
Along with the inconsistencies in hourly pay depending on age, from April 2017
young people under 21 will be exempt from claiming housing benefit (Osborne,
2015) and will need to rely on NMW or benefits alone to run a household. Mhairi
Black MSP highlighted this issue during her maiden speech in the House of
Commons stating:
“...we are now in the ridiculous situation whereby because I am an
MP...I am also the only 20-year-old in the whole of the UK that the
Chancellor is prepared to help with housing. We now have one of the
most uncaring, uncompromising and out of touch governments that the
UK has seen since Thatcher” (Gander, 2015).
Currently, single people aged 18 – 34 receives £57.69 per week in housing benefit,
and those with a family will receive £103.85 per week for 2 bedroom accommodation
(Dundee City Council, 2016) with tenants expected to make up the difference if their
rent is higher than the council’s maximum allowance. With privately rented 1 and 2
bedroom flats in Dundee currently ranging from £325 – £600 a month, young people
in private tenancies are facing significant financial difficulties which will only increase
next year when housing benefit is abolished.
Although lower JSA entitlement and ineligibility to housing benefit was an incentive
to stay at home for the 16 – 18 year olds in the focus group, none of them thought it

31
was fair to exclude younger people from the same income of those aged over 25, as
it does not support young people who find themselves in vulnerable situations. One
16 year old participant, who has not lived at home since he was 13 years old, has a
daughter aged 8 months and is living in a bedsit provided by the Council which he
must leave if he finds employment. He worries about the cost of living stating:
"...I wouldn't have anywhere to go if I had to pay for the rent for the
place I'm living in now as it's supported accommodation” (Appendix 3,
line numbers 360 – 419).
The JobCentre Plus, part of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has a
range of options for the unemployed from 16 years upward. 16 – 24 year olds can
attend the JobCentre for work experience placements which last from 2 – 8 weeks,
working 25 – 30 hours per week under the Work Together volunteering programme.
If any person on the Work Experience programme is claiming JSA, they must
continue to search for work while taking part in the programme or face punishments
including sanctions. Sanctions are set at a minimum of 4 weeks which Craigowl Staff
see as compounding difficulties for young people (Appendix 4, line numbers 130 –
168) and research from Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows that sanctions
are used more often and have severe effects on those who are under 25, homeless
or classed as vulnerable (JRF, 2014).
Under certain circumstances the JobCentre can help with travel and childcare costs
during the time covering the placement. During the Tool Box focus group, none of
the participants had attempted to make contact with the JobCentre as they believed
it was for those aged 18 and over who were unemployed. This is surprising as all of
them were willing to get any kind of work experience and would be eligible for the
Work Experience programme, with one participant stating they had difficulties with
childcare costs and that was a factor in considering future jobs and training.
The JobCentre provides other services which include Work Academies (WA) and
work trial schemes which last between 2 – 8 weeks. WA’s run training and work
experience programmes for up to 6 weeks in any available industry and only applies
to young people claiming JSA or Employment Support Allowance (ESA); with most
programmes offering a ‘guaranteed’ interview for the job or an apprenticeship. The
programme consists of pre-employment training, an interview for a vacancy and

32
sometimes units which go towards a qualification. The scheme is voluntary but once
a claimant has requested to join the programme they must see it through and are
susceptible to sanctions if they fail to participate (DWP Collection, 2014). An
important point to mention about work programmes is that benefit claimants once
enrolled, are classed as employed which lowers the unemployment statistics,
although they still need to carry out job searches and remain in contact with the
JobCentre while taking part.
Employers may take advantage of the work schemes offered by the JobCentre as it
is more cost effective to hire new trial staff every 4 – 8 weeks who are required to
work without a paid wage. Staff at Craigowl saw work trials and placements in retail
more likely to replace trial staff than placements in construction, care and
administration because of their specific need for qualifications (Appendix 4, line
numbers 328 – 379). In 2013, Poundland retail store became national news
headlines (Malik, 2013) for their use of work trials after JobSeekers took the
Government to the Supreme Court because they were forced to attend work trials in
order to claim JSA and avoid sanctions; which they deemed as slave labour and a
breach of human rights. Initially deemed to be illegal practice and facing sanction
repayment charges of £130 million, the emergency JobSeekers (Back To Work) Bill
(UK Government, 2012) was created so the DWP can legally force JSA claimants to
work wherever they are assigned, and to avoid paying compensation for sanctions.
To protect clients, Craigowl monitor their own organised employer placements and
offer longer training periods, of up to 26 weeks (Appendix 4, line numbers 298 –
310).
Staff at Craigowl worry about the management of claimants in the JobCentre as
there lacks consistency in the way claimants are treated because:
"[t]he tendency is to expect everyone who goes to the JobCentre to be
not wanting a job, not wanting to work, on their benefits for the rest of
their lives" (Appendix 4, line numbers 209 – 211).
and do not offer enough support to young people, especially those with confidence
issues and have a lack of general knowledge in job searching which results in a poor
attitude to finding work. (Appendix 4, line numbers 130 – 134, 177 – 213). Staff at
Craigowl spend a lot of time sifting through referrals that are not appropriate for their

33
programmes and see this as detrimental to young people’s confidence as they are
rejected for employment opportunities, usually due to financial reasons as apprentice
wages are not sustainable for independent adults. (Appendix 4, line numbers 71 –
102). Issues also develop when claimants do not comply with their JobSeekers
agreement which could be to apply for these referrals which results in sanctions.
Difficulties face young people who arrive at Craigowl Communities when they
choose to leave school and seek employment or to claim benefits if they still live at
home as they are more likely to come from low income families, whose parents are
relying on Child Tax Credits to run the household which they receive until their child
is 19, if they take part in an National Certificate access course. The Craigowl staff
believe that the ‘Access into the Armed Forces’ course was the only course
worthwhile as it offered entry into the military and police for young people which
would provide long term employment (Appendix 4, line numbers 669 – 682). There is
the chance that because families are so dependent on state benefits that tough
decisions need to be made which is detrimental to young people. Craigowl staff have
seen young people thrown out of the family home, with little to no financial support
unless a young person can find a regular income which will compensate for the state
benefits the household will lose (Appendix 4, line numbers 580 – 654). Furlong and
Cartmel (2003) also found this to be the case during their research into young men
juggling family responsibilities while claiming JSA which was particularly difficult
when faced with sanctions.
Young people are missing out on work opportunities from Craigowl due to frustrating
bureaucratic rationale where paperwork or length of unemployment restricts
claimants from work. Staff turned down clients because they had not been
unemployed long enough (13 weeks minimum) and see clients sanctioned if staff do
not complete paperwork for the JobCentre promptly. Staff spend a lot of time
communicating with the JobCentre when their clients wish to start receiving benefits
because their work becomes unsustainable due to lack of hours and low pay. The
JobCentre are reluctant to process JSA applications in these circumstances because
the claimant voluntarily left employment.
"So we've to write...this is what they've got coming in, this is what
they'd get on the 8 hours and this is what they're left to live on and it's

34
minus numbers. They can't afford to live…" (Appendix 4, line numbers
735 – 743).
Craigowl staff believe that increasing the age of benefit entitlement to 18 has had
detrimental effects for young people in difficult situations where they do not want to
continue with school but cannot get a job, which puts a financial strain on their
parents on low incomes (Appendix 4 line numbers 688 – 698). Also, staff believed
the government increase in retirement age and cuts to pensions were being
detrimental to young people’s chances of employment as they are being delayed in
their opportunities to begin long term work
"[b]ecause people...can't leave their jobs for another 5 - 6 years and if
you block the top then you can't get anyone at the bottom" (Appendix
4, line numbers 741 – 743).
The government’s choice to ignore benefit claimants' needs on an individual basis,
and reinforcing traditional social norms which neglect vulnerable people from difficult
backgrounds, is entrenching disadvantaged young people further and postponing
their opportunities to engage in the world of work until they are at an age which will
allow them more financial support to learn or work.

35
Discussion
A culmination of factors has created issues associated with youth unemployment
which this investigation has only highlighted. I focused my investigation on the social
impacts of youth unemployment including school experiences, stigma, family life and
the cost of living. Also, I focused on how effective training initiatives were for 16 – 24
year olds in Dundee. Due to time constraints, I did not have the opportunity to speak
to a wider variety of Craigowl Communities' clients, therefore further research could
be carried out which would involve interviewing clients at Craigowl Communities who
were on other work and training programmes, to see the differences in the
experiences of young people involved in, for example, the hospitality and retail
sectors who do not need formal qualifications versus the care sector which would
involve Craigowl Communities' clients having specialised qualifications before being
able to undertake work trials. With more time, I also would have been able to
conduct interviews with participants aged 18 – 24 instead of staff voicing the issues
faced by their clients. Speaking to this group of people could have gained more
insight into their personal experiences of unemployment, which Craigowl staff may
not have been aware of when they took part in the interview.
Further investigations could focus on JobSeekers themselves, away from the
JobCentre, as there were confidentiality concerns from the JobCentre regarding
participation from their clients. This was not a surprising response from the
JobCentre given the current controversies surrounding the DWP. However, I believe
that if JobSeekers were directly approached and given the opportunity to take part in
interviews to discuss their experiences of unemployment, knowing that confidentiality
is not an issue, they would be willing to participate and provide alternative
experiences not shared at Craigowl Communities.
Given the scope and complexity, it is difficult to offer a route to investigate
specifically to gain further knowledge into the effects of youth unemployment. The
Scottish Government has created a seven year plan to improve youth employment,
and it would be worthwhile to use qualitative data to follow the progress of the young
people being analysed to understand better the published government statistics. As
part of the investigation into the effectiveness of the seven year plan, it would be

36
interesting in future studies to come back to the young men who were part of the
Tool Box programme, who have enjoy the programme so far, to see how effective
the apprentice training was for them in securing employer apprenticeships to
become fully trained in trades that they wanted to follow.
There has not been long term research carried out which follows school leavers to
the ages of 25. This could be an opportunity to gain a richer overall picture of youth
unemployment, based on the real experiences from the young people themselves in
order to put in place individually specific needs to counter specific social problems
young people may be facing, such as affordable homes, childcare costs,
improvement in literacy skills and self-confidence. With government funding, these
focused initiatives would take pressure off organisations such as Craigowl
Communities, who go beyond their role of finding clients work placements and
training. More emphasis needs to be made on the responsibility of employers to work
within the communities they are based, to employ young people in the area and to
invest in their training and skills. Further research could investigate the effectiveness
of future training opportunities where there has been steps put in place to guarantee
young people can make the decision to work or continue into further education
without having to feel pressurised into doing so because of family circumstances.

37
Conclusion
I intended to investigate the social impact of youth unemployment of 16 – 24 year
olds, and find out their experiences of training initiatives in Dundee. Results show the
Scottish Government's choice to implement CfE has not met its target of closing the
attainment gap and preparing pupils for work. This was due to schools continuing to
show bias towards highly academic pupils as seen before the change to CfE. Cuts to
welfare funding by the UK Government shows the distain it has for the welfare state
and its apathy towards the least fortunate. This is having detrimental effects on the
unemployed where they are struggling to gain quality work experience, gain the skills
required to find work and lowering their self-esteem, creating a reluctance to work.
Young people have to consider what employment and training they do take, as they
may not be in a sustainable financial situation, which is causing young people to
defer entering employment opportunities, causing stagnation within the unemployed
18 – 24 year old group.
Young people cannot be encouraged to work and be independent if housing costs
are far greater than their monthly earning on the national minimum wage. The UK
government needs to acknowledge the issues facing young people today and
recognise they are a generation of citizens who are keen to work, but need extra
support to cope with the transition from home and school life into adult
independence.

38
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46
Appendix 1
Consent Form
Unemployed Life in Dundee:
What is the social impact of unemployment for 16-24 year olds claiming
benefits and their experience of training initiatives in Dundee?
Principal Investigator: Marnie Stirling
0903506@abertay.ac.uk
Background:
You are being invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide to
participate in this study, it is important that you understand why the research is being
carried out and what it will involve. Please take the time to read the following
information carefully. Please ask the researcher if there is anything that is not clear
or if you need more information.
The purpose of this study is to find out what the social impact of unemployment is for
young people ages 16 - 24 who may be claiming benefits and their experience of
training initiatives in Dundee.
Study Procedure:
Data collection for this research is a total of 7 weeks. Within that time it is hoped that
focus groups will be completed as well as questionnaires handed out and returned.
I will interview a sample of 10 – 20 unemployed people in Dundee aged 16 – 24
along with members of staff at Craigowl Communities. I will ask about the stigma
attached to unemployment; difficulties finding work; involvement in education and
training schemes; and personal experiences with the organisations that work with the
young unemployed to see if you feel there are any improvements that could be made
to better support young people into long term, meaningful work.

47
Questionnaires will ask similar questions to above and are to be filled out by those
who take part in the focus groups and those who do not wish to participate in focus
groups but wish to participate in the study.
Risks:
The risks to this study are minimal. These risks are similar to those you experience
when disclosing work related information to others. You may decline to answer any
or all questions and you may terminate your involvement at any time if you choose.
There will be no direct benefit to you for your participation in this study.
Alternative Procedures:
If you do not want to be in the study, you may choose not to participate and leave
your answers blank.
I will not ask for personal information such as name, address or contact number but
any information you do give will be treated as anonymous and will remain
confidential. Returned questionnaires will be destroyed at the end of this research
project and all information provided is intended for this academic research only.
Person to contact:
Should you have any questions about the research or any related matters, please
contact Marnie Stirling at 0903506@abertay.ac.uk.
Voluntary participation:
Your participation in this study is voluntary. It is up to you to decide whether or not to
take part in this study. If you do decide to take part in this study you will be asked to
sign this consent form.
Unforeseeable Risks: There may be risks that are not anticipated. However every
effort will be made to minimise any risks.

48
Costs to Subject: There are no costs to you for your participation in this study.
Compensation: There is no monetary compensation to you for your participation in
this study.

49
Consent:
By signing this consent form, I confirm that I have read and understood the
information and have had the opportunity to ask questions. I understand that my
participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time, without giving a
reason and without cost. I understand that I will be given a copy of this consent form.
I voluntarily agree to take part in this study.
Signature Date

50
Appendix 2
Questionnaire
1. Gender: Male Female Prefer not to answer
2. Ethnicity: White Black Asian
Mixed Other
3. Age: 16-17 18-24
4. Do you live in: Flat House Mobile Home?
5. Who owns the property you live in? Yourself Private Landlord
Council Housing Association
6. Education: High School Standard Grades College
(or equivalent)
High School Highers University
and Advanced Highers
7. How long have you been unemployed? (YY/MM)

51
8. Which benefits do you claim (including Housing Benefit)? If none please go to
question 10.
9. How long have you claimed benefits? (YY/MM)
10. What problems stop you getting a job?
Child care Disability Lack of work experience
Lack of training/qualifications Other (please specify)
11. Do you think school and its careers advice helped you for a life of work?
Yes (if Yes, how so) No (if No, why not)
12. Are you interested in gaining qualifications from further education and training?
Yes (if yes, what level of qualifications) No (if no, why not?)

52
13. Have you had help and support from the JobCentre and similar organisations to
help find courses to attend?
Yes (if yes, which organisations helped you) No (why not? Please specify)
14. Do you think there are enough job opportunities for young people in Dundee?
Yes No
15. Do you think the unemployment services you’re involved with genuinely help you
to find long term, meaningful work that you want to do?
Yes No
16. Do people treat you differently when they know you are unemployed?
Yes (if Yes, how does that make you feel?) No
17. How do you feel about being unemployed? Are you happy, relieved, depressed,
anxious, unmotivated etc.?

53
18. What sort of job are you looking for to start a career? (Nurse, scientist, driver,
store manager, chef, builder etc.)
19. How important is work to you? Very Important Important
Not Important No Opinion
20. You see work as: An important and rewarding part of your life
Necessary
An opportunity to make new friends/improve social life
Unnecessary
21. Do you think you receive enough money in benefits or from family to support
yourself comfortably?
Yes No (if no, what do you struggle to afford?)

54
22. Is it fair JobSeekers aged over 25 years old get paid £73.10 per week, while
JobSeekers aged 18 - 24 get £57.90 per week even if they have the same
circumstances and responsibilities?
Yes (if yes, why is this fair?) No (if no, why is this not fair?)
23. How would £73.10 per week benefit you? (Please include how this extra money
would be used).
24. The government has stopped housing benefit for those 21 years old and under to
encourage young people to stay at home for longer and rely on their parents. Do you
agree with this?
Yes (please explain) No (please explain)

55
25. What incentives would you need to go back to training or work? (Please include
minimum hourly rate/salary, shift pattern, expected weekly hours, free child care,
pensions, holidays etc.)
26. Do you think the JobCentre work trial schemes are useful for getting young
adults back into work? Yes(please explain) No (please explain)
27. What is difficult for you, being unemployed as a young person? (Please list
anything that you feel affects you personally.)
I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for completing this questionnaire.
Your time and participation is valued and is very helpful to this research project.

56
Appendix 3
Tool Box 16 – 18 Focus Group, 19 January 2016 Transcript
001. Is everyone between 16 and 17?
002. Everyone nods apart from two people who say “no.”
003. Is everyone still living at home?
004. Everyone nods apart from one.
005. “No, I live in supported accommodation provided for by Hillcrest
006. Housing Association.”
007. How do you pay for your accommodation? What is your income?
008. “I don't need to pay for anything as it is all paid for me.”
009. When did everyone leave school? Did you complete 4th year? Did
010. you stay onto to Highers/advanced Highers?
011. 2 answer (those who are 18) "I stayed on to do one higher."
012. "Yeah, me too."
013. What are you Highers in?
014. "I did mine in Design and Manufacturing."
015. "I did PE."
016. Another participant answers they also did Highers.
017. "I did Highers in Engineering Science and Music."
018. "I left in 4th year."
019. "Yeah, so did I."
020. What was your experience at school? Did you enjoy school?
021. "Just went to see my mates."
022. Other people nod and agree with this that friends made school for
023. them.

57
024. What were the teachers like at school?
025. "I was told I wasn't allowed to come back [to school]."
026. So did the teachers treat you differently at school compared to
027. others in the class?
028. Everyone nods and says "yeah"
029. "Yeah, the swots always got more attention than we did."
030. "You always thought they didn't want you there."
031. "They always treated us like kids."
032. When you weren't made welcome to come to school, did you still
033. want to go to school?
034. "Nut."
035. "But when you're not there you want to go back."
036. Because it was easier?
037. "Na, it was scary leaving school because you've been there for so long.
038. You don't know what to do."
039. "It was easy to be at school because you didn't have worries. When
040. you leave you need to go out and find a job and that."
041. Did you ever think about going to college?
042. A few people nod and say "yeah."
043. "I went to college. I was there for six months. Yeah, I was there for half
044. a year."
045. Did you go to college while you were still at school, where you
046. spent half you time at each place?
047. "Na, it was an apprenticeship course. It was a choice between
048. plumbing, bricklaying, joinery, painting and decorating and maths and
049. English as well. You did that during the week and you were there for
050. two and a half days a week."

58
051. And what did you make of that?
052. "I passed all of it, but it was my attendance. I was completing
053. everything and I was just getting bored and I couldn't do anything so
054. I just stopped going in. And because my attendance was bad I never
055. got into the next course. So that's ee's taken us [Craigowl
056. Communities]."
057. So did you get any careers advice when you were picking your 3rd
058. and 4th
year classes? Were you pushed down an area to go down
059. while at school?
060. "Na. There was nothing ever for me at school if you know what I mean.
061. There was nothing. I was just doing some Nat 4’s and a Nat 5 and then
062. nothing. My guidance teacher told me that they didn't think eh'd get into
063. college or that but I applied for it and I got in. But then I came here."
064. What did you put down for at college?
065. "Eh, construction."
066. What was everyone else's experiences of careers advice and work
067. experience?
068. "I never got any because I was kicked out of school at the start third
069. year."
070. "I was given a job in a fish mongers and worked there for two and a
071. half days.
072. Did you get a choice in what you wanted to do for work
073. experience? Was there a choice sheet to fill out? What did you
074. want to do?
075. "Aye, there was 3 options to put down. I wanted to do PE but I never
076. got anything. So that's why I only went in for two and a half days."

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