Youth unemployment-A million reasons to get it right

With youth unemployment hitting the million mark today,this report Youth unemployment
A million reasons to act? is well worth a read.

The report from the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion,calls for a subsidy focused on creating 75,000 new jobs for long-term unemployed,and putting young people on the Work Programme, at a cost of £150 million.

It shows that youth unemployment now is 25 per cent higher than it was at the same point after the 1990s recession and that long-term youth unemployment is rising more quickly than at any point since comparable records began.

260,000 young people have now been unemployed for more than 12 months.

In many cases, young people have responded to the downturn by staying in education but this says the report is just masking the problem.

Whilst they say that the Government’s focus on raising participation in education and reforming the vocational system is welcome,the effectiveness of skills and education reform critically depends on young people making the right decisions and understanding what employers need,which means that high quality careers services are critical.

It is not clear,say the authors that government plans to localise careers guidance with no measures of success will be sufficient. There is also a well documented gap on employability skills, with the CBI calling for more engagement between schools and businesses.

The report also recommends strengthening incentives for employers who offer apprenticeships to the unemployed and expanding the Apprenticeship Training Agency model, where apprentice providers can employ directly and place apprentices
with host employers.