Warwick Labour tackle youth unemployment

Warwick Labour, in line with national labour policy, held a discussion panel to raise awareness of youth unemployment.

Students welcomed a range of speakers including Professor Lord Bhattacharrya, founder and chairman of Warwick Manufacturing Group and Professor John Holmwood, President of the British Sociological Association and Co-Founder of the Campaign for the Public University.

One discussion examined strategies to tackle the issue of long-term unemployment  for ‘generation jobless’ and Jacob Mohun, a research fellow at the New Economics Foundation estimated the cost of youth unemployment in foregone taxes at £600million.

Ceri Hughes highlighted problems with the coalition governments’ policy of ‘earn or learn’ whereby only 5% of the youth population claim Job Seekers Allowance. Ms Hughes said: “If young people lack skills [to be employable], they won’t gain them by being forced to take a placement at Tesco.”

Lord Bhattacharyya pointed towards the education systems of other countries who have successfully pioneered policies in vocational education drawing on the examples of Japan and Germany, which many people agree would be an apt way to move forward with youth employment.

Miguel Matos the Undergraduate Social Sciences Faculty Representative said: “While policy proposals to get young people in jobs from regional banks to reviving work experience were discussed, the debate couldn’t avoid the fatalism that seeps into our generation.”