The circumstances of young people in the UK are changing rapidly, in terms of how they spend their time and the choices they make. The period that young people spend in the transition years between childhood and adulthood has grown, youth engagement in a range of risky behaviours has increased and the education and labour market options faced by young people have changed dramatically. The experiences of young people have also become more polarised. Some youths follow the traditional fast route of leaving school at the compulsory school leaving age to start employment, or becoming unemployed, whilst others participate in further and higher education and make the step into the labour market and family formation at a later age, often not until their early 30s. These routes taken by young people tend to follow a pattern which is closely linked to their socio-economic status and gender.

CAYT was set up to provide robust evidence on these transitions made by young people, and to help inform key government policies in education and training. CAYT seeks to improve our understanding of the bridging period between childhood and adulthood and how it is changing over time, with a particular focus on what this can tell us about the likely effectiveness of a range of policy interventions.

See our newsletters for more information about what's going on at the Centre:

• CAYT research digest no. 2: January 2012
• CAYT research digest no. 1: November 2010