Nearly 1m young people out of work

[Starfeesh]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62gzl2yl24o

AIBU to be concerned that a life on benefits seems to be a viable option, and glad Labour are bringing in compulsory work placements?

You’re placing WAY too much value on ‘monkey see monkey do’. My mum didn’t work when I was a kid, but I’m a working mum. My dad was an alcoholic, I’m not.

I like Covid Walking Cunts as a term 😆
And I’m glad you managed to turn things around for your child.

Of course there are, because there are lots of sensible people out there too. Thank fuck.

But in any situation some survive and some fall to the side.

What a pointless comment. We need to rescue them to sustain the economy.

When I think back to how many employers my City had even 10 years ago, there was plenty of decent jobs for 16-18 school leavers - I don't mean high paying, but office jobs, call centres, admin work etc..jobs that gave you an income to pay your mum and dad some board, save some and spend the rest on clothes and fun things, and give you the experience to eventually get promoted or move elsewhere for better money etc... However, one by one these large employers either went out of business, or technology has meant they have reduced staffing, call centres have outsourced jobs. Unless you get a public sector job or have a friend working somewhere who puts a word in for you, you've no chance.

And yet there is a huge shortage of personnel joining the armed forces. It's not necessary to serve 22 years. Many just served four. A training in electronics, computers, clerical, logistics and technology. It's not all infantry and guns. Medical personnel - the training and experience all look good on a CV. Opens a lot of networking opportunities too.

I feel the main reason is we don't have mass employers any more, for instance, lots of big factories here in the UK used to make steel, chemicals, vehicles, furniture, white goods, TVs, textiles, clothing etc etc. As well as all the shop floor workers, that involved employing office staff for sales, administration and management, maintenance people to keep the place running, and cleaning and security staff. A lot of those jobs have now gone abroad, as accommodation and labour costs are cheaper and legislation on health and safety is much more lax. In the ones that remain many processes have become automated. Big shops that used to have lots of staff have either closed completely or have so few members of staff you can search for ages to find one. We have lots of people chasing fewer and fewer jobs, and a lot of the jobs are low paid, with little or no chance of any kind of career progression. I am so glad I'm retired, and despair for my children and grandchildren, who will have life so much harder.

Which is what NWM has caused so much damage

We were protecting the NHS not the elderly
My kids barely remember the pandemic
Yes it was rough for a couple of years but we cant blame everything on lockdown

The job outlook for young teens is dire. It's not just about benefits. 16 and 17 year old don't get benefits. So many of them want a part time job that used to be a rite of passage growing up. But they can't get them.

It's expensive to pay anyone, let alone inexperienced young teens who take time to train. And, if the threads on here are to be believed, absolutely no fucker is willing to go into the office to train them.

There are fewer of the traditional teen opportunities as shops and restaurants shut. Supermarket used to take on loads of teens, they still take some but not in the same volume, they are desperately trying to reduce their payroll and a lot drastically reduced their temporary Christmas staff let alone the normal day to day staff. The smaller pop-in shops also require their staff to be over 16 because of the licensing laws.

So many 'older' people are taking on a second job, or maybe a job at the weekend when the other half can look after the kids. And they will get preference over a wet behind the ears teen because they have experience and can hit the ground running.

My paper boy is a 60+ year old retiree for crying out loud, he needs the little bit extra to make ends meet and he's more reliable than many teens might be.

But they are all soldiers, and could be called on in time of war. Which seems a lot more likely currently than in the past. I am the first generation of my family for over 150 years not to serve in the military, which was not by choice, but because of horrendously poor eyesight. Perhaps because of this family history I am acutely aware of the dangers, and while I would not oppose a child or grandchild joining up if they really wanted to, I wouldn't suggest it.

Rent may not always be fully covered. For a person under 25 the rent is based on renting one bedroom in a shared house. For a single person over 25 it is based on renting a one bed home.

But the full rent may not be paid. Each local authority has a "Local Housing Allowance" (LHA). This is calculated by taking the cheapest 30% rent.

So, if you line up all the one bed properties for rent in a particular area from cheapest up to most expensive then the LHA is the rent for the home that is 30% along from the cheapest.

For the area I live in, the LHA for a one bed property is £575 per month and for shared accommodation is £345 per month.

So, for example, where I live the median rent for a one bed property is around £800 per month and there are no flats for rent for less than £600. A single person over 25 would get £575 in housing costs and would have to pay the rest of the rent themselves.

Even shared accommodation costs £500 - £600 for a shared room.

Why is it a pointless comment, pray tell?

Is there a break down by age because there is a lot of difference between a 17 yr old & a 24 yr old.
How many are claiming benefits?

They certainly can get benefits if they’ve got asd/adhd/another kind of disability. Dsd and her bf both adhd, both get high rate pip! They’re living the life (in their minds)

Covid was a disaster for some youngsters

Those who had just started university- at the time we said we would have pulled ours out, paid the year and delayed until universities reopened.

It was hard for those who had sat gcse and a’level mocks and then got told their grades would be based on those (like how many pull their socks up and knuckle down for the real things? Everyone I gave ever known until that point!)

And the ones for whom school is safer, warmer, better fed than home.

Some of those NEET numbers are those people.

I think it’s makes sense the figs are inline with the financial crash as economically we are in tougher place & there has been little investment in children & young people since the crash.

Because the ones that were ok were ok. They aren’t costing anything in benefits and less likely to be unemployed.

It’s the ones who fell apart at Covid who need focusing on.

This.
My dd has finally got a job - after completing a stem degree at UCL followed by a masters. She has an admin job in London. Basically reception work - the requirement for that job was a 2.1 from a Russel group uni and AAB at A level. 5 interviews later she got the job. Her school
grades are almost all A*s.
She had applied for around 200 jobs over the last year. She’s 24.

The job market is incomparable to when we graduated. It’s absolutely on its knees for 18-25 year olds.

who's talking about social care? they can pick litter, fruits, etc

There are plenty of jobs for which we have to import immigrants from poor countries en masse

Whoa. Not impressed with some of the posts here putting the blame on young people as some sort of homogenous group of snowflakes and benefit exploiters. Just be grateful that you are in work and have the opportunity to pay towards our collective benefit system - your redundancy or disability might be just round the corner and you might rely on it it soon, too.

As for the young people themselves:

1. Working from home / hybrid roles have made it more difficult for young people to learn from their more senior colleagues, get proper training, or promotions
2. The number of retail and hospitality (as well as public sector, education, and even nhs) jobs has decreased massively due to the economic climate.
3. Getting a degree is increasingly becoming meaningless as there is too much competition (and it's too easy to get a degree)
4. AI has made experienced people more productive, meaning a single person now does the job of 4-5 people, decreasing the size of the job market - and this will only get worse
5. There are not enough junior roles available regardless, and since the minimum wage has increased, employers prefer hiring more experienced people for the same money
6. There have been mass redundancies at bigger firms meaning there is a lot more competition for roles
7. Wages have stagnated, people spend less, prices are up
8. Prices are up, houses are unaffordable even for those on a good income, meaning young people are forced to stay at home
9. World politics, the threat of war, natural crises are all making us more depressed
10. Going out is now too expensive, so people stay at home more, increasing their social isolation
11. We are all addicted to our mobile phones, our brains aren't activated sufficiently, and this has increased social anxiety in younger generations especially
12. Social media and television show a world of fakeness (influencers, love island...) which makes certain younger people feel like outliers.
13. Younger people are less confident and more prone to blaming issues on their mental health challenges, creating a divide with older generations who are more likely to have a 'roll the sleeves up and get on with it' attitude
14. Even startups now don't hire as many people as they used to - see recent news article.
15. We all expect the younger generation to not rely on benefits, but also not live at home, without actually offering them the opportunity to get sufficient income to build up a life
16. We have expectations of work (9am-6pm, work hard, stay late) that are outdated as there really isn't a reason we should all work factory hours and barely spend time with loved ones. Good on the younger generations for challenging this.
17. We are all victims of corporate greed, we are slaves to a system where we are led to blame others, rather than challenge those in power to re-establish fair systems with equal opportunities.

I think to that end WFH has actually been disastrous. Kids just see their parents sitting at home, often still in their nightwear or wrapped in some blanket supposedly working. My parents got up early, put on suits and went to work.

I think pay is so low, people at the top earn far too much- more than their fair share for certain - and houses are so utterly unaffordable, having a family so out of reach, that most young people think why bother…

We still call them the WCs 🤣. Bloody loads of them wandering around locally. Sometimes in the road. It was like the day of the Zombies.

It's more likely to be because he was proactive in making himself employable and stand out from the crowd rather than the area.