Nearly 1m young people out of work

I hit the work market in the 80's and unemployment in the young was the highest it had been since the 1930's depression and higher than it is now. But the problem is that the counting mechanisms are different so its hard to get a true picture.

In the 80's Youth unemployment alone, was well over 1 million at several points, depending on the definition used. Many young people were not counted as unemployed because they were pushed into the Youth Training Scheme (YTS), which removed them from unemployment statistics even though they were not in real jobs (does this sound familiar) . The scheme was introduced specifically to address “rising unemployment rates among the youth” in the 70s and 80s . The government also threatened to remove benefits from young people who refused YTS placements, which again distorted the numbers by shifting people off benefit rolls rather than into work . So although the headline numbers varied, the true scale of youth unemployment and benefit dependency was very likely higher than official figures suggested. I worked for the Dept of Employment at the time so I remember this well.

How the 1980s counted young people:
Many unemployed young people were excluded from unemployment or benefit statistics if they were placed on YTS (a scheme introduced by the Conservative govt). Benefit categories were narrower and less standardised. Disability‑related benefits for young people were far less common and often not recorded separately. Data collection was inconsistent and not designed for transparency.

How today’s figures are counted:
Benefit categories are much clearer and more granular (e.g., Universal Credit, ESA, PIP). Young people on training schemes are still counted if they receive benefits. Disability and health‑related claims are explicitly recorded, which increases visibility. Data is collected nationally and published regularly. This means today’s “1 million young people on benefits” is a more transparent and inclusive figure than anything published in the 1980s.

So this is nothing new and it has been much worse!

There are limits on the numbers of those visas that they give out anyway. It's a nice idea but I wonder if they'd get there and find the jobs aren't really there either. I did see someone posting about being in Sydney and having similar experiences applying for a million things and getting nowhere like youngsters in the UK.

Not a terrible idea - and is how the Brits and the Irish ended up in all the corners of the world. But not that simple either. Have to be 18 for those visas. Aus and NZ have proof of funds requirements (around $3-5k I think?) plus person has to pay visa costs of several hundred, then flights to get there, accommodation and then find a job. More jobs in those countries but will be fewer if a few hundred thousand young Brits turn up.

Yep, and I mentioned 80 people applying for a 2hr pw cleaning job. People are desperate for anything right now.
And in the case of my DM's cleaning company, she wont even interview someone unless they have experience.

For our eldest it’s because he wants to go into nuclear research (for energy not weapons just to clarify) and they don’t let you mess about with radioactive material unless you have some idea what you are doing.

Youngster wants to be a KC - so he needs law qualifications

Many jobs still need degrees.

Of course. In a pp mentioned around 50 people applying for a dishwashing job.

The NI hit is actually greater on lower paid jobs.

What is the point of university then?

@Gingerbeersallround

There are many 'undesirable' jobs available. Why, because people don't want them.

No there really aren't. Not in lots of areas anyway.

Even glass collecting jobs get taken quickly by someone. It's not as if there's an infinite supply of such jobs. The fact is that there are far more unemployed than there are jobs. Even the most menial jobs get snapped up by someone almost immediately. Yes, there may be some areas where organisations struggle to fill vacancies, but in most areas it;s the opposite.

There are many 'undesirable' jobs available. Why, because people don't want them.

Rather than say there are no jobs for the young, we should say there are no suitable jobs that I have trained for, or vaguely ok jobs available.

We need to reinforce this message to the young when they are 17 so they know studying is no longer a guarantee of a job you expect (especially if you don't have a clear career path strategy). Sometimes they end up in the same group of job seekers as the 17 year old who has no additional training.

I wonder if anyone counts the young people, from 16, still in education who are also earning?

DGD started by volunteering in a charity shop, then got a couple of shifts in a cafe, and more recently in a pub/restaurant. She’s at uni now,and her customer service experience has got her some work there, and the pub will give her some shifts in the holidays. She earned quite a bit over the Christmas holidays.

DGS, A levels coming up, has part time work too. Only a few hours a week, but the discipline of turning up regularly, and learning to work with a team, is so valuable IMO. These are young people with working parents who easily support them financially, but want them to develop independence. Most of their friends seem to be of the same mindset.

For the very vast majority of jobs DD has applied for she either gets an automated rejection email...or hears nothing. Shes only had a handful of interviews from 100+ jobs she's applied for....so no chance to show any sort of attitude ' good or bad.

It's not an attitude though, it's a statement of fact. As ever, no one thing is true. Yes I am sure there are some people who wint do x job but it's also true that there are lots of us posting with teens who absolutely would do those jobs and cant get them.

When jobs are hard to come by, that attitude just removes them from any selection process. They need to be open to whatever is available.

It really isn't the time to be picky and they are definitely not helping themselves.

How long ago was that? Because times are very different now. There are barely any jobs were there is just one thing to do like glass collecting.

I did all kinds of shit jobs when I was at school, potwashing, glass collecting in pubs, chicken chaser on a farm, working in a sandwich factory. If todays kids think some jobs are "beneath them" they have some serious growing up to do.

Tiny sample size, but I have two nieces who have been sneered at by their friends for the jobs that they have (one in a chippy weekends and evenings, the other flipping burgers in a pub chain) both otherwise studying at school/uni. They say their pals want jobs but want jobs that aren’t “beneath” them so apply to popular roles and never get work. Not the case with everyone and shit when you’ve got a path that you want to pursue, but if we’re talking actually young when saying young people, that’s just how work works.

I can accept that business needs to operate safely and look out for employees' well being. In my view the problem arrives when a politician thinks that the rule that protects 10,000 staff at Tesco needs applying with equal rigour to Maggie's Cafe. Maggie does not have the time or the headspace to fill out 10 forms in between frying bacon and making coffee. So Maggie quits, and there's nothing left that might have given her niece an opening.

Have they thought about a working holiday visa to eg Australia, NZ or Canada?
Im in NZ and there are quite a few openings in eg hospitality, vineculture, infrastructure (eg working on ferries coaches etc).
Keeps them busy. New experiences and a job.

Exactly. But they're obsessed and blinkered with their own political rhetoric that they can't see any alternatives other than trotting out the old "business is bad and business owners need to be punished" mantra which appeals to the dinosaur unions.

Yes to both posts

Even if it was partly down to AI, surely a responsible Government would have the acumen not to compound the issue with NI and NWM increases . Surely they would devise incentives for Employers by way of mitigation.

The article does suggest that much of the improvement is down to Meloni's lightening the burden of red tape and regulation on businesses, especially smaller ones.

My DC have experienced similar. Studying for a degree and struggling to find part time work while studying. It’s not easy out there now. As a pp said if they have to pay the same wage they will take an experienced person over a school leaver.

AI is not replacing jobs en masse as yet, not entry level unskilled ones yet, it will start very soon. Started jobs we're talking about are those mainly affected by NMW and NI changes