New research from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and engineering giant Atkins has revealed that almost half of 16–21-year-olds in the North expect to move from their hometown in search of better employment prospects.
On top of the 44 per cent who said they expected to move in search of work, 40 per cent said they expect to move to “find a better living environment.”
The study, carried out by Trajectory on behalf of Atkins and Northern Powerhouse, shines a light on the perceived prospects that young people believe await them in their local areas. It found that those with the highest academic aspirations were most likely to leave in search of better opportunities (36 per cent of 16-18yr olds and 56 per cent of 18-21yr olds.)
The research gives a broad insight into the younger generation’s view of their prospects and opinions on the future, from transport and environment to education and leisure opportunities. Just over half (55 per cent) believed they would be well prepared for the future job market, while 45 per cent expected there to be job opportunities and somewhere affordable to live locally.
Of those who plan to move away, only 15 per cent plan to move to a town or city in their region although the majority felt positive about their local area, suggesting a disconnect between their preferences and the perceived prospects that lie within those places.
In other findings, 34 per cent felt lack of public transport options limited their choice of school, college or work and 62 per cent living in towns or rural areas experienced unreliable public transport.
49 per cent of respondents felt that high quality jobs would not be available in their local area, but would be available in their wider region.
Information technology, healthcare, finance, engineering and media were listed as the top five sectors to find high quality jobs of the future.
Respondents also expressed high levels of support for the principle of Levelling Up (80 per cent), but more than half thought it has not worked in practice (54 per cent) and only 31 per cent thought that their own area has benefited.
44 per cent felt Levelling Up only benefits older generations and not under 21s, reinforcing the importance of listening, learning from and responding to the views of younger people.
Overall, just over half (55 per cent) thought they will get the right skills from education, but less than half (45 per cent) thought there will be job opportunities and somewhere affordable to live locally. There was a strong sense that opportunities will not be evenly distributed, with the bigger cities in each region and London cited as offering the best employment options.
Richard Robinson, UK and Europe CEO of Atkins, commented: “This research offers a view of the future from the perspective of those who will live it, rather than those who professionally plan and deliver it. It should act as a wake-up call: the prospects that many young people believe awaits them reinforces the need for urgency, to deliver change faster and create greater opportunities that benefit all generations.”
Henri Murison, chief executive of Northern Powerhouse Partnership added: “Young people who grow up in towns with poor links to major cities don’t have the same life chances as those elsewhere. While it’s simply not possible to spread opportunity perfectly equally everywhere, what we can do is improve transport connectivity so these young people don’t miss out. This also allows these major economic centres access to the talent they need to reach their full potential.
“Recent analysis has found that tackling major economic challenges such as transport and innovation could create over a million high-skilled jobs for the North of England in the next thirty years – a gamechanger for young people growing up here today.
“This is vital for closing the north-south productivity divide, which is the only way to help the next generation fulfil its potential.”
Trajectory combined quantitative data from 225 young people and qualitative feedback gathered in eight focus groups held across four Northern regions – Liverpool City Region, Cumbria’s M6 Development Corridor, Teesside and West Yorkshire – between February and April 2023. The full research report is available to read here.
