The Office for National Statistics has published Oct-Dec 2023 labour market stats.
The headline that I was interested in was that of 18 to 24 year olds in full-time education, about a third had a job, and just over 10 per cent were looking for one – figures that haven’t changed significantly for a decade.
There’s a significant sampling problem with the Labour Force Survey – it doesn’t directly include people in non-private accommodation, which includes those in NHS accommodation and students in halls of residence.
Students in halls are only included through the parental home – but it’s not as if international students’ parents are being sampled, and there’s a real question over whether a lot of parents would even know that their offspring are in work, so when the bulking back up is done it’s a real possibility that that third is a major underestimate.
That would explain why all the other polling I’ve read suggests that the number is much higher. So while we wait for more detailed/accurate figures to become available on employment rates, I thought I’d at least look to see if there’s been any changes in the hours that students are doing.
