Increasing diversity, precarity and prolonged periods of education in the transition from school to work in Britain

Abstract

This paper investigates whether the British pattern of an early transition from school to work persists. We apply sequence analysis to data from the British Household Panel Survey and the U.K. Household Longitudinal Study to study how education and employment trajectories of young adults born in 1974–1990 differ by 5‐year birth cohort, gender, and socioeconomic background. The distinctive British early transition from school to work is still prevalent, although trajectories have become more complex and precarious with an increase in part‐time employment and prolonged stays in education among the youngest cohorts. Occupational outcomes of highly educated men and women were similar. However, women who did not continue education were more likely to experience turbulent transitions with longer spells of part‐time work and inactivity. The proportion of university graduates from lower socioeconomic backgrounds has increased, yet their chances of being in professional and managerial occupations remain significantly lower.