The Employment and Training of Young People in Rural South West England

Abstract

Abstract Studies of youth employment and training have tended to emphasise the importance of regional differences between labour markets, yet to date there have been few studies of rural areas. Rural areas themselves differ considerably depending upon the nature of the local geography and economy. Thus, the South West of England represents a particular set of characteristics which affect the post‐school transitions of young people. The introduction of national youth training has had a profound impact upon the youth labour market which has been thoroughly studied in other contexts. This paper explores the impact of youth training schemes on the rural labour market and seeks to describe some aspects of the rural labour market of the South West which are distinctive for the transition from school to work. The material presented here is based upon quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with employers, Managing Agents and school leavers in a rural labour market during the period 1988‐1990. The studies show that in a rural labour market the small scale nature of local businesses leads to youth training being absorbed into the informal recruitment and training practices of employers who were able to use it for their own purposes, to some extent undermining the more formalised attempts at universal training which national agencies at first attempted to impose. However, other factors such as access to transportation and housing affect the way in which young people shape their careers and this has implications for gender differences.