Young people must ‘step up’ to save economy, says Chancellor

Young people who are out of work must “step up” to help solve mass unemployment in the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said.  

15.1% of young men and 11.2% of young women were estimated to not be in education, employment, or training last year, according to the Office for National Statistics. 

Those figures mean that almost one million 16-to-24-year-olds in the UK are jobless – the highest level in almost a decade. 

In an interview with ITV News, Reeves said: “I want to make sure that everyone who can work is in work or in training.” She blamed the high level of youth employment on the previous Conservative government, saying the problem had been “inherited” after the general election.  

The Chancellor has claimed that new policies announced by the Government, including the expansion of Heathrow Airport, would create vacancies for young people to fill.  

“The jobs are there, and we need young people to step up and fill them.”

– Rachel Reeves, Chancellor

“Whether that’s a runaway or a train line, or new housing, data centres, [or] energy infrastructure,” Reeves said, “the jobs are there, and we need young people to step up and fill them.” 

She also added that job centres would be reformed so they are “places to get work, not places to get welfare.” 

The Government is planning to launch ‘trailblazer’ schemes in eight English mayoral authorities from the spring, with £45 million of funding made available to link up teenagers with businesses.  

Reeves has also told regional mayors and local authorities that they must ensure “there is good quality of further education and training courses in the local community” for young people to access. 

Young people today suffered disruption to their final years of education due to the pandemic, with limited work experience opportunities. 

Experts have said that the lack of youth employment is a result of years of neglect, lack of funding for employment support, the fallout from Covid, and rising mental health issues amongst Gen-Z adults. Young people today suffered disruption to their final years of education due to the pandemic, with limited work experience opportunities.  

Employment Minister Alison McGovern told The Observer: “If we don’t help young people who are struggling now, the long-term effects can be disastrous for their future job prospects, earnings, for their potential, for their health. Work is absolutely vital to social mobility.” 

Many employers who do take a chance on young jobseekers offer zero-hour contracts, only for the work to dry up within weeks, forcing young people to return to the job centre.  

Hasan, a 20-year-old from Birmingham who has been out of work since completing his A Levels, told the BBC: “This year has been kind of a constant struggle. I want to get a job, but how do I get a job? And how do I write the right CV? And how do I apply for things?” 

Amy Wilkes, aged 23 from Coventry, has faced a similar issue. Whilst she has a degree in Criminology, Policing, and Investigation, she said she gets no responses when she applies for jobs, adding “it’s really frustrating, soul-destroying, and gutting.” 

Although youth unemployment is rising sharply in the UK, causing problems for many young people, it has remained below levels seen in continental Europe, which have continued to skyrocket since the global financial crash of 2008.