A major University of Westminster-led research project has shown the harmful effect of youth custody on young people’s career prospects. It has also shown that having higher-attaining peers while at school can reduce the likelihood of being imprisoned as a young person.
The six-part study titled Youth Custody: Educational Influences and Labour Market Consequences is a collaboration between the University of Westminster, the University of Bath, the London School of Economics, the University of Surrey, the Behavioural Insights Team and FFT Education Datalab. It was funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
Richard Dorsett, Professor of Economic Evaluation at Westminster led the research project. He said: “This study presents new evidence to show the scarring effect of youth custody on employment. It considers several aspects of education and how they influence whether children experience custody. This provides important evidence for policymakers and educationalists.”
For care-experienced children, the study estimates that youth custody reduces male earnings and employment by more than 10% up to the age of 21. For females who have been in care, custody was not found to significantly harm employment prospects but did reduce wages by 25%.
Professor Dorsett said: “This study has been able to provide robust estimates of the impact of youth custody for males and females separately. The results show intriguing differences, suggesting obstacles like employer discrimination, reduced self-confidence and low skills may affect young men and young women in different ways.”
The finding that having higher-attaining schoolmates reduces the chances of a child going to prison suggests that reducing the amount of academic segregation currently found in schools will reduce the number of young people facing custody.
Dr Veruska Oppedisano, Researcher and Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Westminster, said: “These are important results showing for the first time that the probability of youth custody is reduced by having higher-ability school peers, especially in more disadvantaged areas and for kids with lower academic ability. This introduces a new element into discussions around the effect of ability-grouping and, indeed, selective schooling.”
Rob Street, Director of Justice at the Nuffield Foundation, said: “We know that the experience of youth custody can have profound consequences for the children involved. Using innovative analysis and a data source not commonly used in youth justice research, this report gives a fresh perspective on the important relationship between a child’s experiences of school and custody, and the adverse impacts of youth custody on transitions into employment. The research will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners seeking to reduce these long-term harms.”
For more information, see the project’s page on the Nuffield Foundation’s website.
