Chasing rainbows: How many educational qualifications do young people need to acquire meaningful, ongoing work?

The increasingly complex relationship between educational qualifications and employment is an integral, yet little-explored dimension of the labour market developments that have come to be referred to as the ‘gig economy’. This article explores the changing meaning and relevance of education through an analysis of young people’s employment outcomes in terms of employment status, having a job in their field of study and job satisfaction. It shows that while higher levels of education do provide some protection from unemployment, the relationship is murky. A relatively large proportion of highly educated young adults are experiencing underemployment and precarious work. Young women are less engaged in the labour market. Furthermore, those with secure jobs do not necessarily find them meaningful and those with meaningful jobs are not necessarily in secure employment. For many young people, using their educational qualifications to find security in work is a bit like ‘chasing rainbows’.