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Opportunity knocks? Economic outcomes for low-skilled people in cities
By
Elena Magrini
| 7 March 2019
Opportunity knocks? Economic outcomes for low-skilled people in cities
By
Elena Magrini
| 7 March 2019
Select Chapter
Executive summary
Introduction
Figure Box 1: What does this report mean by ‘low skilled’?
The economic outcomes of low-skilled people in urban Britain
Figure The majority of low-skilled people and low-skilled jobs are in cities
Figure Figure 1: Distribution of low-skilled jobs and people in Great Britain, 2017
Figure Low-skilled people and low-skilled jobs play a much bigger role in cities in the North and Midlands
Figure Figure 3: Share of working age population with few or no qualifications, 2017 (%)
Figure It is in cities in the Greater South East, where the economy is stronger, that low-skilled people have better economic outcomes
Figure Box 2: How does a city create a strong economy?
Figure Figure 4: The relationship between the strength of an economy, unemployment, rate and low-skilled unemployment rate, 2011 (%)
Figure Figure 5: Low-skilled people to low-skilled jobs ratio, 2011
Figure Figure 6: Share of low-skilled workers in medium-or-high-skilled occupations, 2011 (%)
Figure However, pressures on housing make the many opportunities strong economies offer less accessible
Figure Figure 7: The relationship between the strength of an economy, housing affordability and share of low-skilled people moving out of the city
Figure Box 3: Low-skilled people in London
Why are strong economies good at creating job opportunities for low-skilled people?
Figure Different cities offer different types of low-skilled jobs
Figure Figure 8: The composition of low-skilled jobs in cities
Figure jobs too
Figure Figure 9: The multiplier effect
Figure Box 4: Methodology – the multiplier effect
Figure In contrast, cities with weaker economies mostly create low-skilled jobs by attracting low-skilled exporting businesses
What can cities do to improve the economic outcomes of their low-skilled populations?
Figure In the short-term, cities should consider the following three policy solutions to improve the economic outcomes of low-skilled people
Figure In the longer term, if cities are serious about inclusive growth, they need to encourage a shift towards high-skilled economies
Figure Figure 10: Education achievements over time
Figure Figure 11: Urban population and urban low-skilled population by age
Conclusions
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2: Share of jobs that are low-skilled
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