Adolescence is early enough to intervene

Out of 360 children surveyed in one Burnley primary school, 12 knew someone in work.

This statistic is a startling example of the realities of intergenerational worklessness in Britain. Understanding the journey of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) from birthplace to workplace is critical to breaking this cycle.

Readers will be familiar to the depressing numbers of young people not in education, employment or training. Around one million 16-to 24-year-olds in England are classified as Neet according to the latest quarterly figures from the Department for Education — that's 15 per cent of the cohort.

It's no use blaming the recession for this number. It has remained stubbornly high for the last decade - right through our period of full employment. The sad fact is that children are leaving school quite unready for the challenges presented by the world of work.

Nothing is more pressing than helping young people to make the transition from childhood in a safe and supported way. Early intervention is crucial, and age 14, 15 or even 16 is early enough for me. They too are our children.

The government-commissioned report, Early Intervention: The Next Steps, led by Labour MP Graham Allen, garnered crucial publicity for early intervention, which has been both undervalued and underfunded. But the report risks failing to fully address how to "ensure that children aged nought-to-18 become the excellent parents of tomorrow" - its stated purpose - by overlooking the importance of a child's school years.

There is always going to be the temptation to support one stage of the journey over another, but we know that there is no silver bullet and reports purporting to be such can be misleading and divert vital funding and attention required to support the entire journey.

The focus of Allen's recommendations was on parenting, governance, increasing intervention, and expanding programmes for under-fives. While these are all key areas in combating disadvantage, it is again only a fraction of the journey faced by young people.

We now call on Allen to address the school years, with insight into how to keep the momentum going for the later years of adolescence. With the objective of providing a social and emotional bedrock for nought-to three-year-olds, it will be vital to outline how this bedrock will be built upon for the next 15 years.

For some children, "risk factors" will not emerge until a later stage, perhaps having sailed through their early years.

There are both cognitive and non-cognitive stages for children and sometimes interventions in teenage years can be more effective.

It is dangerous to think of the early years as the be-all and end-all.

The challenge to Allen and the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove is to find new ways of investing in the continuum of services from birth to 18. The challenge to education and youth services is that there can be no rest until young people have the skills they need for life.

And the challenge for the philanthropic sector is to do all we can to extend our giving to best support the charities and the schools in the frontline of the battle against disadvantage. Both financial and pro-bono business support are vital. We must acknowledge and understand early intervention, but equally support young people to stay the course in education.

Last year, the Audit Commission found that the cost to the taxpayer for just one generation of young people not in education, employment or training is £35bn. And yet youth services are facing some of the most severe cuts right across the country. What will be the cost for future generations?

Shaks Ghosh, chief executive of the Private Equity Foundation