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From school to dole: young swell ranks of unemployed
Jonathan Prynn and Nicholas Cecil16.09.09
The youth unemployment crisis deepened today as the jobless rate among under 25s looking for work hit one in five.
Hundreds of thousands of school leavers and new graduates poured into the jobs market over the summer but many have been unable to find employment, official figures reveal today.
The sudden rise in youth unemployment has alarmed ministers, who fear the emergence of a new generation locked out of the labour market as many of their parents were in the early Eighties. The Government is desperate to avoid a “joblite” economic recovery and is drawing up plans to help young people find work.
The number of 16- to 24-year-olds on benefits is approaching the record highs seen in the Thatcher recession when a million young people claimed from the state.
It has already passed the levels seen in the early Nineties when a young Gordon Brown complained about “a lost generation” of teenagers. Ministers are concerned that unemployment could remain above two million for many years.
“Unemployment in the Eighties was over two million for most of the decade,” said Work Secretary Yvette Cooper. “In the Nineties, the Tories pushed over a million more onto long-term sickness benefit. Both cost billions of pounds.”
A White Paper, due to be published with the pre-Budget report in November, is expected to set out measures to curb unemployment. It will focus on young people, older individuals out of work for more than six months, mothers and people signed off sick long-term and with mental health problems.
Ms Cooper said: “Almost £700 million is saved for every 100,000 people who come off the dole. Investing now to prevent long-term unemployment will save more money once the economy is growing strongly again.”
The depth and severity of the recession has hit teenagers particularly hard with employers apparently reluctant to take on workers they have to train.
About 300,000 graduates and 400,000 school leavers started looking for work this summer. They are often the first to be made redundant because they are cheaper to fire. About a third of the people made jobless in the last year were aged 18 to 24.
Economists fear the unemployment total will carry on rising deep into 2010 despite the expected return to growth in the Autumn.
A further 1,100 job losses were announced yesterday by defence contractor BAE Systems.
It came after Bank of England governor Mervyn King yesterday signalled that Britain may have come out of recession in recent months.
But he warned that many families would still feel the impact of the recession for a significant time, partly due to high unemployment. Today former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith unveiled radical plans to reform the benefits system to encourage people to work.
But the Conservatives stopped short of championing his proposals, with shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May saying they raised “some interesting questions”.
The report by the Centre for Social Justice, which Mr Duncan Smith founded, called for a short-term increase in the benefits bill to eventually save £700 million a year.
It proposed changing the rules so people who find low-paid work do not lose benefits so quickly. But families earning more than £30,000 would have their entitlement to benefits cut.
The study called for a radical simplification of the system, which it claims would help lift more than 200,000 children out of poverty. There should be just two benefits, rather than 51, available to working-age claimants.
The report concludes that under the present system some claimants are worse off if they take a job paying up to £15,000 a year as they lose benefits.
The Dynamic Benefits paper recommends increasing support for working couples and measures to remove financial barriers to finding a job.
Low income households would benefit by a total of nearly £5 billion under the proposals.
Mr Duncan Smith added: “The recommendations hold to the simple principle that work is the sustainable route out of poverty.”
The report says that some six million people of working age in the UK are claiming out-of-work benefits.
Reader views (11)
We are now at the unemployment stage where people who "dont" want to work will go from school to pensionable age without having worked, and shortly school leavers who "do" want to work will also undergo the same. Bring back "Work Experience" programs which gave youngsters in the late 70 and early 80's a job where they learned a trade for a year. All the ones I had working for me then went easily into jobs.
- Jim Allan, Lake District
The trend is up and unemployment will be higher still come the next election which is historically what happens to Labour.
I can't wait to see a regime change but Cameron is establishment and we need a coalition government to get 'sustainable' jobs back in place. Deeper greener policies could see a minimum of 200, 000 sustainable jobs created.
- Dj Strimmer, East Dulwich
Remember this happend under the political correct Labour government.
- Joe, Swanley Kent
Too much immigration.
- Trunk, US
You cannot get away from the fact that everytime a Labour Goverment gets into power we end up in a total economic mess.
Please remember most of the New Buildings, Schools, Hospitals, Motorways, have all been built under the PFI scheme, or the Goverments Credit Card to you and me, and guess what all of these schemes are somehow not included on the Goverments Balance sheet.
- Steve M, London
And yet the door in wide open for unskilled and unchecked immigrants from third world nations to come here when our own citizens struggle to find work.
- Dirk Diggler, Soho, London
The old nationalised industries would have taken these kids on and trained them in a trade of some sort. At the same time it would have kept the un-employment figures down, and put money in their pockets to spend and keep the economy going. The industry I work for is now only taking on workers on temporary contracts. A nice liitle loop hole for employers.
- Mark H, London, England
Don't worry, Gordon will make up some more pointless jobs and throw loads of public money at the issue.
- Bob, Cheam
Much as I distrust and dislike the younger generation,there is absolutely nothing for them once they leave school.Shame really,but how many of these actually want a job?
- Steve, London
I am having to work well past my retirement age due to pension robbery by government and pension fund fees, so much for letting the young in. You will have to wait another 5 years on the dolefor this position.
- Paul B, London
Betrayed by Nu Labour. Never forget, never forgive. They deserve to be decimated at the election, and hopefully will be.
- M, London
