The Myth of the Market: the Negotiation of Training in a Youth Credits Pilot Scheme

Abstract

Youth Credits is a new Government scheme for the provision of youth training in Britain. The scheme is based on principles of individualism and market forces. The young person is supposed to be empowered by acting as a customer, spending the credit on appropriate training. This paper reports on research conducted into one of the original Youth (or Training) Credits pilot schemes and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. We show that within this scheme, the notion of a market for training driven by young people as customers was largely mythical, and explain the complex combination of factors which prevented such a customer driven market from being established. We claim that some of these factors are deep seated rather than situation specific, and question whether it is either possible or desirable to set up such a training market at all.