Taxed Out Of A Job: With 1 Million Young People Out of Work, Ministers Face Costly U-Turn

Britain faces a deepening youth employment crisis, with almost one million young people now neither earning nor learning.

ONS figures show 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training between April and June, 13% of all young people and 30,000 more than a year ago.

Earlier this year, a Government-commissioned report conducted by former Labour minister Alan Milburn warned that Not in Education, Employment, or Training, (NEETs) figures were “more than an economic crisis; it is a moral one”.

Mr Milburn’ final report is expected to be published in the coming weeks with the Government doubling down on its Jobs Guarantee scheme to support young people into work.

Some 90,000 fully funded jobs are expected be created by 2029 through the Jobs Guarantee, a crucial component of the Government’s £2.5billion drive to tackle youth unemployment.

The figures come as businesses traditionally providing entry-level jobs face sharply rising employment and operating costs.

Industry leaders warn of a damaging false economy: Government is making it more expensive for businesses to employ young people, while potentially having to spend billions helping almost one million of them back into work.

Michael Kil, CEO NTIA said: “This is the definition of a false economy. Government has increased the cost of employing people through higher employer National Insurance and a relentlessly rising cost base, only to now face the prospect of spending billions trying to bring young people back into work.”

“Hospitality and the night-time economy have historically been the front door to employment for generations of young people. When you make employing someone more expensive, particularly at entry level, businesses inevitably employ fewer people.”

“Government now faces a stark choice: reverse course and reduce the cost of employment, or continue spending taxpayers’ money attempting to repair a problem its own fiscal decisions have helped exacerbate.”

“We need to stop treating employment as something to tax first and subsidise later. Give businesses the confidence and headroom to create jobs, and they will. Without that change, we risk turning a youth employment crisis into a long-term economic and social failure.”