Thriving or Surviving: Building the Evidence Base and Evaluating What Works For Young People Across Life Transitions
Aim: To build a comprehensive evidence base that advances understanding of how young people aged 16-34 navigate transitions from full-time education towards successful and sustained participation in work. It will do this by identifying modifiable risk and protective factors, examining barriers at critical transition points, and evaluating which interventions and welfare approaches enable the move from surviving to thriving in education, training and employment.
This programme represents a step-change in longitudinal youth research, combining data integration, methodological innovation, policy engagement and youth engagement to move beyond description towards actionable evidence. It will identify what shapes outcomes and what can be changed, evaluate what works, and inform how to support all young people, including NEET youth, to thrive.
What the research will involve:
This research will be structured around three work packages (WPs):
Modifiable risk and protective factors shaping youth outcomes (WP1)
Youth trajectories into economic inactivity and work (WP2)
What works – evaluating interventions and welfare reform (WP3)
This work will be supported by two cross-cutting themes (CTs) to ensure quality and relevance at every stage:
Lived experience engagement (CT1)
Partners in data science, policy, service delivery and implementation (CT2)
What has the study found so far? (key updates): Pending, study commencing in 2026
Study Team: Prof Sharon Stevelink, Dr Sarah Dorrington and others.
Further information: sharon.stevelink@kcl.ac.uk
Funder: Colt Foundation
Publications- pending