‘Young concentrated in low-paid occupations’

THE starting occupations of young people have increasingly been concentrated on the bottom rungs of the jobs ladder despite rising education levels, a new study suggests.

Research indicates that recent generations have been starting their careers in low-paid jobs such as bar staff, waiters, call centre workers and kitchen assistants.

As a result, they have been relying on rapid progression from their initial jobs for their wages to catch up, said the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Trends identified before the coronavirus crisis suggested that the speed of progression has been rising, although for men born since 1985 it has slowed down.

The research, funded by the Alan Turing Institute, found that men born in each decade since the 1950s, and women born since 1985, started their careers in occupations further down the wage ladder than their predecessors.

The increased concentration of young women in low-paying occupations at the start of their careers is a “sharp reversal” from the trend seen over previous decades, said the report. Men born since 1985 started lower down the occupational ladder than their predecessors and then climbed it more slowly, it said.

Minister for Employment Mims Davies said: “Our Plan for Jobs aims to ensure there are options for young people entering the world of work, including through our Kickstart Scheme and increasing participation in our sector-based work academies.”