Thousands of care leavers in England ‘locked out’ of work as firms slow to adapt

Thousands of young people leaving care in England are being left “locked out” of work by employers who say they are open to hiring but make few changes to adapt, a charity has warned.
Calling on employers to act on their promises, the Drive Forward Foundation said care leavers were almost three times more likely to be out of work than their peers.
As ministers push to tackle a youth jobs crisis, the charity, which helps care leavers to find work, said this employment gap had remained “stubbornly consistent” despite a decade of youth jobs initiatives.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 40% of care-experienced people aged 19 to 21 are not in employment, education or training (Neet), compared with 12.7% of their non-care-experienced peers.
The overall number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are Neet has increased to almost 1 million across the UK, the highest level in more than a decade.
The government is battling to bring down youth unemployment, with pledges to undertake welfare reform and to provide subsidies for employers to encourage them to hire young adults.
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, last week announced a £1bn youth employment scheme. Companies will receive a £3,000 grant for each hire of a person aged 18 to 24 who is on benefits and has been looking for a job for at least six months. Ministers have also paved the way for a slower rise in the minimum wage for younger workers.
However, the report from Drive Forward highlighted that, while many employers say they want to help young people leaving care, they then often make very few changes to their hiring processes.
A survey of 500 employers commissioned by the charity found that although more than 80% said they would consider hiring care-experienced young people, relatively few had adapted recruitment processes to account for non-linear work histories or gaps in CVs.
Almost half of employers said they never adjusted job descriptions or recruitment language to remove unnecessary barriers, and one in four reported having no specific measures in place to support care-experienced candidates into work.
Russell Winnard, the chief executive of the Drive Forward Foundation, said: “Care-experienced young people are often assessed against assumptions that simply don’t reflect their lived reality. When recruitment systems aren’t designed with this in mind, capable and motivated people are screened out before they ever get a chance.”
In response to its findings, the charity said it was publishing a new toolkit to help employers looking to improve access to work for care leavers.
Drive Forward has partnerships with more than 40 employers working to employ care-experienced young people, including John Lewis, Camden council, the Salad Kitchen, the civil service, Candyspace and the crown estate.
Winnard said: “Employers who adapted their practices often saw strong results. When businesses take a more flexible and informed approach, they don’t just change outcomes for young people – they strengthen their own workforce”.
A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring every young person has the opportunity to earn or learn. We provide targeted support for care leavers, including access to higher housing allowance rates up to age 25 and tailored Jobcentre Plus support.
“Our latest major intervention will help to create 200,000 jobs for young people, backed by almost £1bn. The broader support package, totalling £2.5bn, will support almost 1 million young people and help deliver up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.”