Better graduate work-life balance in the North
A study has found that graduates will be able to find a better work-life balance in the North.
A study by the Intergenerational Foundation has suggested that graduates can find a better work-life balance in the North of England. This has taken into account the range of graduate job opportunities and the cost of living. The Intergenerational Foundation found that with growing opportunities in areas like Manchester and Leeds, it gave places in the North an edge over the South's eye-watering housing costs.
According to the Intergenerational Foundation in their “Should I look North?” report, Manchester was the best place to look for a graduate job with opportunities and housing costs being at their most beneficial for graduates. Following this was Newcastle, Leeds and Sheffield, also recommended for their excellent opportunities for graduates.
The Intergeneration Foundation found that graduates would struggle to make career progress in towns that have high levels of retired people and highlighted places like Worthing, Southend, Poole and Bexley, because of not only poor graduate job levels but also high costs of housing.
It was similar in the North, while rents and housing costs are much cheaper, places like Hull, Middlesbrough, St Helens and Blackpool had little in terms of graduate job opportunities. This is in stark contrast to London's satellite towns whose housing costs are sometimes ten times of average incomes.
Angus Hanton, one of the co-founders of the Intergenerational Foundation, spoke about the findings. He said 'Young people want both to work and to be able to afford housing, but in most of the UK they can only do one or the other. While London offers many job opportunities, the capital's housing crisis means young people may have good jobs but their income is disproportionately swallowed by high housing costs. They could have a better work-life balance by looking North instead.'
Hanton believes their findings should prompt graduates to look further North. He said 'There is a huge untapped pool of graduate opportunities outside London with businesses missing a trick by not locating in these areas. Our findings overlap with the current government's strategy to seek to build a "Northern powerhouse", and devolution of public expenditure and taxation to Combined Local Authorities would allow these regional centres to truly compete with London for young talent.'