There are now 1.04 million unemployed people in the UK aged between 16 and 24. That means more than one in five young people are looking for work, almost three times as many as in the general population.
It’s the highest figure ever recorded by the Office for National Statistics – which started examining this area in 1992 – and it’s a problem for many more people than just those young people no longer in education but trying to get a job.
[Realtated link: Search for a new job online]
A report this month from the Commission for Youth Unemployment points out that at current levels youth unemployment costs £4.8 billion a year (more than the entire further education budget in England) with another £10.7 billion of lost output – what these people could be contributing if they were in work.
Over the next 10 years, unless things are addressed the Commission projects the cost of this youth unemployment to the Government will reach a staggering £28 billion.
[Related story: Women and youth bear brunt of rising unemployment]
Perhaps worse than the cost to the Government and taxpayers is the cost to the young people themselves.
“Unemployment hurts at any age; but for young people, long-term unemployment scars for life,” The Commission on Youth Unemployment points out.
“It means lower earnings, more unemployment, more ill health later in life. It means more inequality between rich and poor – because the pain hits the most disadvantaged. It poses particular challenges for young women. And it means more division between communities.”
However, it’s not just the UK that has a problem with unemployed youth.
Currently 51.4% of youths in Spain are unemployed, Greece has a youth unemployment rate of over 50% too and in France between a quarter and a third of young people have been out of work for a quarter of a century.
Sweeping and controversial labour reforms in Spain and Greece aimed at addressing these problems have seen mass demonstrations. Some experts have also blamed the introduction of the minimum wage for this global rise in youth unemployment.
In the UK, Nick Clegg has announced a new youth jobs scheme that gives employers subsidies worth £2,275 to take on a young person, while individual companies are making efforts too – with Barclays, HSBC and Santander all announcing apprenticeship schemes to employ more young people and there are other innovative plans in places like Brighton.
But perhaps the best news is the British youth themselves are remaining optimistic. A new study from InSites Consulting shows two 15 to 25 year olds in three expect 2012 to be better than 2011, and just one in nine thinks it will be worse.
[Related story: Will Nick Clegg’s apprenticeship scheme work?]
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