| In May an independent review, commissioned by the Government and led by former minister, Alan Milburn found that job and career opportunities for young people are “not growing, they’re shrinking”, with one in six set to be out of work, education or training in five years unless action is taken. The report’s author warned that the education, health and welfare systems are no longer fit for purpose in preparing young people for adult life and that the country is at risk of a lost generation with young adults facing a “perfect storm” of challenges. With over one million young people not in education, employment or training this is the highest level in more than 12 years. The figures add to growing concerns over the number of young people not being able to secure a job in the UK. Milburn said rejections for young jobseekers, after submitting dozens, sometimes hundreds of applications, had become the norm and challenged a characterisation that young people were not trying or were “work-shy, snowflakes, soft”. His review, and other statistics, paint a grim picture for young people in the UK:6 in 10 NEETs (not in education, employment or training) have never had a job compared to 4 in 10 in 2005 But 84% of NEET young people surveyed want a job or training There could be a 25% rise in NEETs to 1.25 million by the early 2030s without intervention Entry-level jobs have sharply declined, with the number of mid- and lower-skilled jobs in the economy falling by around 1.6 million over the past 20 years |
