1 in 5 unemployed young people out of work for over a year

New analysis has shown the number of long-term unemployed young people has more than doubled over the past three years.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) held its annual Young Workers’ Conference on 21-22 March. And it used the occasion to call on the government to turbocharge its efforts to support young workers.

New TUC analysis reveals the number of long-term unemployed young people has more than doubled over the past three years, from 53,000 to 129,000.

Now 1 in 5 unemployed 18-24 year olds have been out of work for longer than 12 months.

The Jobs Guarantee scheme

The government’s recent commitment to increase the Jobs Guarantee scheme to 90,000 places and expand to 18–24-year-olds will make an important difference to young people.

But the TUC says these figures underline the need for the government to go further and faster on the Jobs Guarantee.

The union body is calling for the government to:

• Shorten eligibility period. Young people currently have to wait 18 months on Universal Credit to be eligible for the scheme, which the TUC says is far too long. Earlier eligibility would be particularly beneficial for those living in area with few vacancies and high unemployment.
• Accelerate delivery and increase the number of placements. Recent increases in placements are welcome. But the current target of 90,000 placements over three years, averaging 30,000 annually, is still insufficient given the scale of the challenge. There still need to be further increases in the number of available placements.

The TUC would also like to see the scheme expanded to those not on Universal Credit, as nearly half (44%) of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) don’t receive an out-of-work benefit.

The TUC says that whilst Job Guarantee schemes need initial upfront investment, they result in a return on investment for the government.

Recent TUC analysis revealed that the benefit to cost ratio of the programme is estimated at 2.81. Every £1,000 of (net) government spending on the programme generates £2,810 of net revenue for the Exchequer. With these outcomes assessed over 30 years, the scheme pays for itself within a decade.

The union body says that early experience of good quality paid work can make a massive difference to young people’s job prospects in the long term.

Trumpflation threat to young workers and unemployed young people

The TUC says “Trumpflation” is a threat to workers up and down the country – especially young workers.

The union body is calling on government to pull out all the stops to protect households and firms from the economic fallout of Donald Trump’s illegal war on Iran.

With young workers especially vulnerable to economic chaos, the TUC says that must include future action to increase the scale and scope of the Jobs Guarantee.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

Too many young people in the UK are stuck out of work for extended periods of time. And that has long-lasting effects for their own prospects and for the country as a whole. We know that early experience of good quality paid work makes a huge difference to young people’s prospects across their lifetimes.

The government was right to expand the Jobs Guarantee to more young people and encourage businesses to hire those who have been out of work for more than six months. But ministers must now be ready to turbocharge the scheme, going further and faster.

Trumpflation is a real threat to workers up and down the country, particularly young workers living in parts of the country where unemployment is already higher.

That’s why eligibility and number of places should be expanded, and young people shouldn’t have to wait until they have been unemployed for 18 months to access support.

Featured image via the Canary