Half a century ago around one third of teenage boys entered apprenticeships on leaving school, mostly into programmes of 3-4 years in manual trades. A sizeable – though much smaller – proportion of girls also entered apprenticeships in fields like hairdressing. These apprenticeships provided many young people with a route into stable and secure employment. Fast-forward to the present day and less than 1 in 20 young people between the ages of 16 and 18 are apprentices, while more than half of all apprentices are over the age of 25. This article looks at the reasons why and how things could change.
