1.2 million 16-24 year olds currently out of work?

[Hmmmmwhy]

just heard this on the telly, is this correct? Anyone any anecdotal data (your own children- mine are much younger) of why? I find that astounding imagine if these young people never work, terrifying

She was exceptionally lucky to get that work. Especially cleaning at 13. That doesn't actually sound legal tbh

That would actually be a good starter job for someone anxious, maybe autistic. Those sorts of jobs don't really exist any more though.

I have to to say, my niece makes over 2k a month on tiktok...she also has a full time job that she is keeping so she's sensible luckily!

Gosh don’t I hate the newer McDonald’s set up. The scrum at the counter gives me the absolute fear. I miss there being about 10 options of meals and that was it, queueing up and getting the order given to you there and then!

Murdoch then.

I wonder what percentage are suffering MH issues and not receiving help. MH services are shocking and children are leaving school with them not having been able to have the support they needed. CAMHS are shocking.

Yeah not my usual watch I have to be honest but I do like to see what every side of the political spectrum is saying
unfortunately landed right on a tony Blair bit which was definitely a jumpscare ha

Absolutely. It is sad and actually dreadful. For the young people themselves and our society and country. So many factors involved. But there needs to be an absolute change and financial reduction as to who is supported by the state not to work.

I was interested to read the various discussions regarding the idea of national inquiries or local inquiries into historic sexual abuse cases. I think possibly that criteria might also apply to support for genuine job seekers. And those who are shy about job seeking. Some areas will have a much greater need for targeted support for job seeking. Whereas other areas will have much better transport, many more employers so far greater opportunities, so perhaps the targeted support will change.

This is true. I have a friend whose child was on the waiting list so long (pre teen) by the time they reached the top they were at the age for adult services so cahms declined the referral. Literally 5 years wasted.

Going against the grain, I teach university students, and on their UCAS forms since COVID almost all of them have had one or more part time jobs - whereas that used to be pretty rare. About 10-15 years ago almost none of our applicants had any paid work experience at all. Now pretty much almost all of them do, even the higher family income ones — just the usual part time jobs like waiting tables, supermarket or retail work, but it’s a noticeable shift - and they do more holiday jobs while at university, too.

@MartinCrieffsLemon the b and b was my friends, and it's perfectly legal. A couple of hours in the morning during the holidays is a great way to introduce work to teens.

And I wouldn't have said it was luck she got the other jobs... the work is there for those willing to put in the leg work.

I’m a Coach for a swim club.
I suggest to all my teens when they get to 16 they take their Level 1 swim teaching certification. There are pools locally that will pay them £8-10 an hour for this even at 16.
When they are 17, they can take their Level 2 certificate so can teach lessons alone. This puts them on £16-20 an hour here (I see work up to £40 an hour in some areas).
Most of them also have to do their lifeguarding qualification too which is paid more around the min wage but gives them more hours of work.

It’s a great way to get them earning a decent amount of money at a young age so they feel like it’s worth it. There is a National shortage, they will never be out of work and can transfer to other pools if they go off to uni.

Like with all work, train to do something that is an ‘in demand’ skill and you will never struggle to find work.

Edited to add: I get them helping with sessions with younger kids from the age of 14 ish so by the time they are 16 they have the confidence and knowledge to use their skills.

I got DD a summer job at the end of her GCSE’s at my workplace. No availability over Christmas as the holiday period was too short. She applied for about 10 Christmas positions, shortlisted for a couple but then never heard back.

A lot of agencies don’t take on any one under 18 (have tried). Now concentrating on A-levels/Uni there’s no pressure to work.

when I was at school there were a lot of after school jobs, I worked in a greengrocer’s Monday-Friday. Also worked at the local market on weekends. Just don’t see them advertised anymore.

Mine are 21 and 18, both in full time education.

yes swim teaching is in huge demand here- especially in private settings like swim babies or sen teaching

Your council issued the relevant paperwork to work under 14 then?

She was lucky though. Places just won't hire under 18 because of insurance etc. I've been in places where I've seen them turn 16 year olds away because of that. Places where once upon a time they would have had lots of 16 year old staff

yes because they're competing with grown adults for lots of small and zero hours jobs.

the delivery, retail type jobs that they could previously do are now taken over either by low wage workers or a machine.

Nothing like someone from London where it's very hard to find staff for low-paid jobs coz of housing costs and the humungous economic divides between the richer and poorer sees fit to opine about how so many young people nationwide don't have jobs.

Dare I suggest that many places don't have very many jobs for anyone, let alone a young person.

I’m not from London? Maybe read the whole thread 🙂

It is in demand across the country!

Realistically you can qualify in less than 3 months.

Also great opportunities to combine it with travel as they move out of education.
I see some lovely things like go and teach expats in the Caymans, Australia, Dubai for 3 months with accommodation provided.

I hope she’s investing that money and has a sound head on her. She appeared from what you’ve said to be pretty sensible.

I think part of the problem is that schools are assessed on results and attendance and not at all one whether they look after kids with special educational needs.

The schools are very underfunded and short of teaching staff, so the kids are taught with videos and cover teachers a lot, but not with actual qualified adults who can look after kids with differences.

A lot of the kids with special educational needs end up with severe anxiety and stop going to school. Once they are out of the school system and already strugging with SEND and MH issues, it's really hard to get back in.

My DS is in this situation, in spite of being very bright and high achieving. He just couldn't cope with all the videos and nastiness in the teaching and developed anxiety disorder. It's very very hard to get a child back to good health and back into the system when they have lost trust in the teachers.

Part of the problem is that there is a lot of "off-rolling" too where kids who are struggling are forced out into "elective home education" and this treatment makes it very hard for the kids to trust adults in positions of responsibility in future.

Between 16-18 I applied for so many jobs, retail, hairdressers, basic office jobs, hotels.

This was 20 years ago, but I only got 2 interviews for 2 shops and didn't get it. I had good GCSEs grades, really really wanted to work, made a huge effort in preparing for interviews, but they ways wanted someone with 'experience'.

I imagine it's even worse now. There's very few of those jobs that you can just walk into now.

My children are 18 and 21, they finished 6th form and graduated last summer. Although they have both got jobs (youngest is doing an apprenticeship) it’s due to perseverance and applying for lots of jobs and getting no feedback at all on the majority of them. They both have friends who are still looking, have only just started working or are working a few hours in supermarkets or pubs to get them by despite A levels, degrees and being perfectly employable in my eyes (presentable, people skills etc). So many jobs are offering minimum wage but wanting years of experience in the field. It’s tough out there.

Our local FB pages often have young people asking for work, or parents of 16 year olds asking, and the feedback from most employees (who run things like hairdressers, dog salons, typical small businesses which would take on young people once) is that they can't take under 16s.

I would say the majority do want to work. It's just not easy