Practical policies to assist apprentices
A recent report by the National Union of Students shone a light on the life of an apprentice. There are horrifying results for the poorest students and those who need an ‘earn while you learn’ route the most. With social mobility stalling, this becomes an urgent problem. The report takes a comprehensive look at pay, benefits, sick pay entitlements and much more beside. It finds that, far from being an income for some, it is a second-rate option for too many. Had these students stayed in formal further education their parents would have retained their child benefit and child tax credit. In addition, the full-time further education student has access to sick pay, maternity and hardship grants. Had these students gone into higher education they would have received all of the above plus maintenance grants and a generous loan with subsidised interest rates for repayment on receipt of well-paid work.
The most poignant of the examples we looked at is the only child of a single parent who does an apprenticeship at 16 rather than stay in sixth form. Not only are they only able to earn £95.55 per week on the apprentice minimum wage their mum (or dad) would be out of pocket to the tune of £83.86 per week from loss of child benefit and child tax credits alone. This is 88 per cent of the apprentice’s weekly minimum wage. The insult to injury comes when their parent – who is obviously keen to help and allows them to stay living at home – loses their single person discount on their council tax. The decision to ‘get a trade’ sets back the household budget, and your closest relative, more than any other option.
While there might be an arms race between the main parties for how many apprentices they can create, without a quick change in policy employers are going to lose interest in this education route because the reality for too many leads to persistently low retention rates, as the poorest young people turn away from the option altogether.
It is clear Labour cannot, and should not, commit to more apprentice places without looking again at the apprentice experience.
The root of the problem is that an apprenticeship is not – despite all the hot air – a ‘government approved educational route’ and this means a huge loss of all the taken-for-granted support of secondary education that continues if you take a more formal or elitist tertiary route.
This must now be changed. Get this right and the issues of childcare, sickness and benefits for apprentices themselves and their parents alike will all fall into line. Dovetailed with action on low pay, we could transform the apprentice offer in the country.
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Joe Vinson is vice-president (further education) of the National Union of Students. He tweets @JoeVinson
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