Nearly 1m young people out of work

That doesn’t produce a motivated workforce that will contribute to growth.

Just more people circling the drain claiming they can’t possibly work because they are sore or sad.

And then spend all their time being sore and sad.

What a waste of life.

But hey yeah let’s hit the (could be taken away by any future government) benefits jackpot kids!

We take full responsibility for our two teenagers

Absolutely

They are our responsibility, we brought them into the world, we reared them. We are the biggest influence in their lives. We are their bed, food, money, education, manners.

They are absolutely our responsibility and you can judge us for it.

I wasn’t defending them just offering an alternative possibility, and perhaps the form filling is part of the test, who knows, stranger things have happened.

It’s just a form.

Nail on the head. The WHOLE point of employers engaging young people was to get them on the cheap, usually doing very low value work. Why would an employer take on a 16 year old with no work experience when they could take on a 30 year old with prior experience for the same money? Make it make sense!

Another aspect re lack of jobs for young people is the massive reduction in the numbers of small independent shops, pubs, cafes, etc over the past couple of decades due to out of town retail parks, supermarkets and the internet. These are the kinds of places where school children would get Saturday jobs or part time evening jobs, likewise paper rounds, milk rounds, etc.

When I was at school, we nearly all had at least a Saturday job in a shop or cafe, and many of us worked in pubs in the evening, doing menial work like washing up or collecting glasses. We'd all talk about our jobs, and give each other advice/hints/etc if where we worked needed another pair of hands etc. I worked Summers in local boarding houses doing room cleaning, making beds etc and earned a fair amount, especially with tips etc.

Now that retail and hospitality is dominated by big national chains, they have their own recruitment procedures and, say, a 16 year old school kid probably wouldn't have a chance of a job.

Not to mention the relatively recent legislation aimed at "protecting" school children which has meant many businesses simply don't bother anymore rather than do all the form filling and admin needed, i.e. getting permission from the school etc., and the rules on young people not being allowed in kitchens, etc.

Today's youngsters can't be blamed for not having a work ethic when society/politicians have put so many obstacles in the way of them getting a job, even evening or Saturday jobs.

I think pro Labour won’t get this. Maybe there aren’t many of those left at this point.

You’re missing the point. Employers simple won’t hire young inexperienced applicants if they can get someone else with years of experience for the same money, which the rise in nmw has caused. They’re now having to compete with experienced applicants. Hence now we have so many unemployed young people.

As already mentioned, a sizable chunk will be early retirees living off private income so not a direct cost to the taxpayer, albeit they are not contributing to the coffers. Either way, people can't help being ill, not being able to work in the way they used to and possibly needing support!

i can’t imagine how they manage to convince the DWP that they are trying hard to get jobs when they’re not. However when there is a system line this, there will always be people who manage to cheat. This does not mean the majority do.

You can report them for benefit fraud:
https://www.gov.uk/report-benefit-fraud

I actually know plenty of stories that are the opposite way round, in that claimants have done everything that the Job Centre has asked them to do and they get accused of not having done it and get fined. Have you ever been to a Job Centre? They treat claimants like dirt on the bottom of their shoes. I’m on benefits because I am too ill to work. Not so long ago, the Job Centre wanted a load of bank statements from me. I don’t mind doing this. For some bizarre reason, they refused to give me an upload link and said they had to see them and me in person and gave me an appointment at the Job Centre for the following week. I told them I was too ill to make it to the Job Centre. They then said they could visit me at home in 2 months time but would not be paying me anything until then. So, they treat the sick and disabled less favourably than everyone else, which I would think is breaking the law.

Bring back forced labour for low wages, or maybe work houses?

People did eat out in the 80's, greasy spoon cafes, bakery's cafes and wimpy's were full at weekends in our town. But I think while food and cafe culture has increased the high street back then was much better, not the boarded up high streets that we see now. Loads of folk went shopping on a Saturday. I never had any issues getting a job in retail in the late 80's and early 90's, could leave a job one week and walk into another a week later.

And watch crime go up.

Easier just to turn off the funding taps I think

As far as I can see, there aren’t really a lot of nighttime shelf stacking jobs as they are done by the main supermarket staff. Sometimes I go to my local supermarket quite late at night and the staff are already stacking the shelves with customers still walking around. Add that to all the self-service checkouts and it does look like there’s fewer jobs than there used to be. Having said that, there’s far more security staff around in shops now, even before this shoplifting epidemic.

I didn’t post the original post you were replying to, I was just pointing to the data.

Bring defined as "disabled" doesn't mean they can't work. Of course, "some" disabilities mean employment is simply not an option, but the majority of "disabled" people DO work. We need to provide better advice/support to get disabled people into the workplace, that's support for BOTH the person themselves and employers.

I was once sat on a plane on the tarmac at an airport and watched a one legged baggage handler load the suitcases! That was incredibly impressive and showed what people can do if they want to.

I remember when I started work in the 80s, in the first 2/3 firms I worked at, we had a number of staff who'd today be classed as Autistic, or on the spectrum, or Aspergers, etc., due to their mannerisms, but back then, they were just regarded as shy or a bit withdrawn, but they were still able to do their jobs in the workplace. Likewise back a bit further in school, one lad in our class, looking back, clearly was autistic, but we all just thought he was a bit weird as he never joined in, never talked to other pupils, just sat at his desk and worked. Looking back now that there's more awareness and knowledge, he was clearly "disabled" under modern ways of thinking.

Wrong thread!

Why didn't he just pay the council rate on the flat? He still would've been paying less than others privately renting.

It's harder for the younger generation I think. Like traditional jobs in retail were plenty and often filled by college students or those who'd just finished education while they thought of what to do next. But a mix of things have made those positions harder to get, not just because a lot of the high street stores have closed down and hospitality sector is suffering. Zero hours contracts should be made illegal too imo, awful way to live.

There's also fewer entry level jobs all round at the moment and more people unemployed (not just the younger generations) as well as more jobs looking like they will be going due to AI. The only strong sector as far as I know is the care sector. If you want to work in a nursing home, there's a job, but man, that's not for everyone.

The 1980s weren't that bad if you wanted to be unemployed. My first serious boyfriend became unemployed, and "manufactured" a row with his parents claiming they'd thrown him out in order to get his own (paid by benefits) flat, plus a fairly decent weekly unemployment payment. He was like a pig in muck, living in his own flat and money in his pocket for doing bugger all! He made no effort at all to get a job as he knew he'd lose his flat! I ditched the lazy waster when I realised he had no ambition and no intention of finding a job and paying his way. I heard later (I was friends with his mother) that he did eventually get a job (presumably under pressure from the Job Centre/DSS or whoever) and moved back home as soon as they stopped paying for his flat. Of course he never had a row with his parents, it was just stage managed to get a flat as he knew how to game the system.

Not at all. Parents can only do so much. If it was how you say then that would imply that people with shitty attitudes are that way because of parents and that's just bullshit. You can have some of the nicest people who end up with awful kids even though they've tried everything to help their child

As well as the ones who are ill, I would think a good chunk are living off pensions.

However, I believe I read some analysis suggesting the epicly long NHS waiting lists account for most of the difference between UK over 50s and those in other developed nations post pandemic.

The blame lies squarely with the parents…. Oh wait, that’s you, me and almost everyone else on here.

Of course some employers abused the YTS and JTS schemes, but at the same time, lots of youngsters really benefitted from being in the workplace, gaining experience, gaining skills, gaining qualifications, etc. Many were kept on after the initial placement. Many could use their skills and experience to move for better jobs. Whatever it's faults, it was one hell of a lot better than what we have today whereby nearly a million youngsters are sat on their backsides unemployed. We should definitely bring similar schemes back today as that's what is needed to get these unemployed youngsters into the workplace. They need a "foot in the door". I trained to be a chartered accountant starting out under a YTS scheme in an accountancy practice. One of my closest friends started out as an "office junior" in the local Chamber of Commerce under YTS and is now it's managing director having worked her way up through the ranks.

Feel sorry for young people these days who do want to work. It’s starting to feel like the 1980’s when there were few part-time jobs for students/young people and there were 3 million adults unemployed. There were no jobs. There wasn’t the coffee shop/eating out culture we have now. I took work wherever I could get it eg a couple of weeks work over Christmas at Sainsbury’s packing bags and stacking shelves. Paid out of the petty cash box. It was possible to sign on but the money was dire. You were always better off working if you could get it. However, sadly I think those options are now being eroded. So many pubs and cafes closing. Do supermarkets take on casual workers any more?