Could ensuring every child has a laptop in school help solve the NEETs crisis?

Young people are told over and over that digital skills will shape their future, and the government wants a workforce ready for a digital economy. Yet for many households the only device in the house is a smartphone, and that is where homework, college applications and first job searches are being done.

With more than one million young people in the UK not in education, employment or training (NEET) and the Milburn Review looking at what can be done, there is a focus on helping them back into learning and work. For many, the barriers began much earlier, when the task in front of them needed a keyboard and a proper screen and they had neither.  

Locked out before they’ve begun

One in five children in the UK are still living in digital poverty. We tend to assume that because nearly every teenager has a smartphone, they must be digitally included, but being online is very different from being equipped to learn and work online.

Smartphones are useful for everyday things such as talking to friends or finding your way around, but they were never meant for creating a spreadsheet or learning to type, which are the type of skills colleges and employers care about. The problem is a lot of young people can’t afford devices that would allow them to learn these skills – that’s what we call device poverty.

DPA’s UK School Census Report of parents and teachers shows just how early these barriers begin. Only 9% of teachers believe a pupil with access to a smartphone alone could complete all their coursework, while 30% say more than 10 of the children they teach lack a suitable device for coursework and/or internet access at home.

Read more:

• How Britain failed one million NEET young people: ‘We’re wasting a generation’s talent’
• ‘Everyone wants a job and it’s a nightmare’: What it’s like to be a NEET young person in Britain
• Digital exclusion is creating a ‘two-tier’ system for people claiming benefits

The consequences don’t stop at the school gates. Among teachers of years 12 and 13, 48% say a lack of access to a keyboarded device would hold students back when applying for work, college or university at least a fair amount, with 28% saying it would hold them back a great deal.

Children who have never had regular access to a keyboard find it difficult to do their homework and lose confidence, and many decide they are not good with computers when they have never had the chance to learn.

When it comes time for them to create a resume or apply for an apprenticeship, they’re already at a disadvantage and often pass up chances they are more than capable of taking, not because they lack motivation or talent but because the tools were never there.

A phone ban with a price tag

As phones come out of classrooms across England under the government’s new statutory guidance, children need an alternative to put in their place, and for many families there isn’t.

According to Aspirations and Digital Inclusion – an upcoming report from the Digital Poverty Alliance and funded by Currys – cost is the barrier for most low-income families, with 86% saying the price of a laptop is what puts them off buying one. For these families, it’s hard to make a laptop a priority when the electricity bill and the weekly shop must come first.

Why a laptop must come first

We wouldn’t send a child to school without the basics like a pen or a textbook, so why is a laptop any different? It is a passport to education, employment and opportunity, and in a world where so much now depends on being online, it should be treated as a basic utility.  

Every child needs a suitable device and to be taught the proper digital skills to use it. Refurbishment schemes that fix up old computers and device loan programmes do a lot to close the gap, but whether a child gets the tools they need should never come down to a postcode lottery.

A laptop alone won’t solve the NEET crisis because there are too many different factors that affect how young people get into work, such as transport and whether there are good job opportunities where they live. But a lack of device is a barrier we can actually remove and doing so early helps more young people build the skills they need for work.  

The wider family effect

Having a laptop at home can make a massive difference in a child’s life, but it can also change the way their parents and siblings think about their own possibilities. In the Aspirations and Digital Inclusion report, 69% of parents said that having a laptop at home changed the way other family members saw their own futures.

We can’t expect young people to thrive in a digital education system and workforce if we have not given them the tools to take part in either. As the Milburn Review looks for answers, the government should put device access firmly on the table with a commitment that every child has a laptop.

A laptop can open a door that too many young people never get the chance to walk through.

Elizabeth Anderson is CEO of Digital Poverty Alliance

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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