Gen Zs: what they do post school

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A new Infographic published as part of the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth – or LSAY – is about young people’s experiences when they reach the end of their schooling.

Here’s what the survey found.

The LSAY survey

The LSAY survey follows young people from the age of 15 until they are 25. This latest Infographic, released in December 2019, looks at LSAY participants who first completed the survey in 2015 and uses findings from when they turned 18. It is complimented by another infographic looking at GenZs while still at school.

It reports on their rates of Year 12 completion, and how their post-school activities at age 18 “stack up” against their plans of one year earlier. It’s worth noting that Year 12 completion has increased from 76% in 2009 to 86% in 2018.

Who are the GenZs?

GenZs were born between 1995 and 2009 and are said to be more independent, connected and globally minded than their adolescent predecessors. They are also more digitally minded.

Leaving school: what happens?

For their post-school destination, the majority (59%) plan to go to uni. or take a gap year (10%). Another 13% plan to get a job, and only 11% see an apprenticeship, traineeship or other VET study as where they want to be.

When we look at where they actually went just over two-thirds of those that planned to go to uni. are there (69%), just over half (57%) of those who planned to work are working, while half (51%) of those who looked to a range of VET studies are studying in the sector. In terms of changing plans, 20% of those who planned to work are studying some form of VET and 35% of those who planned VET studies are working.

Finishing school may also mean leaving home and, overall, 14% do that. However, while only 9% from metro areas leave home, 26% from non-metro areas do. That says a lot about where the preferred study options are. About half of those who leave home (52%) go into rental accommodation, while 26% go into university or TAFE residences and 6% board in a private house, hostel or boarding house. The remaining 16% use other accommodation options (14%) or are buying a home or own a property outright. But that is only 2%.

Nearly 20% of them are carers too

Finally, around 18% provided some unpaid care to one or more people, mainly relatives or parents. Most of the care provided was for a child who was a relative but not their own child (69%), an adult relative (18%) or a parent (12%). However, 17% provided care to children who were non-relatives. 4% provided care to ‘others’, and this could include their own child.

So, maybe it’s not just grandparents carrying the child caring load!

Other LSAY publications

If VET in school and post school transitions ‘turns you on’ have a look at the LSAY website and, in particular, its other publications. These include research reports as well as briefing and discussion papers.

And something else!

A recent report from Year13: ‘After the ATAR II: Understanding How Gen Z Make Decisions About Their Future ’ is worth a look too. One of its chapters looks at the final years of school. Concerns include the heavy emphasis on ATAR scores. The report also suggests that academia takes priority over post school preparation. Among other things, they think schools could provide more training in life skills such as cooking and cleaning, employment help and more – and better – career advice. We featured an article on careers advice and pathways in the last edition.

Gen Zs: what they do post school | VDC