Positive employment figures mask ‘significant’ failings of national schemes
The number of 16 to 24 year olds out of work for more than two years has quadrupled in the past decade as national schemes designed to help them find work have failed, the Local Government Association (LGA) said.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) around 90,000 young people have been jobless for two years or more, up from 21,000 in 2005. And the numbers of young people who have been unemployed for less than 12 months also increased to 220,000 in 2014, a 20 per cent increase on 2005 figures.
Positive employment figures are masking the fact that many more young people are hidden in underemployment, the LGA said, including working part-time or in jobs they are overqualified for.
Its research estimates that 40 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds are underemployed by a total of two billion hours of work a year.
The LGA warned that the situation is unlikely to improve unless “failing” national schemes are scrapped or re-evaluated, and more power over skills and education is devolved from government to local levels.
"Unemployment is falling but we cannot get complacent,” said David Sparks, the association’s chairman.
“Hidden beneath this overall fall, thousands of our vulnerable youngsters are being left behind by growth and councils fear that they may never recover. They are being failed by an inefficient maze of national schemes and are fast losing faith in the system and in themselves.
"For a young person out of work for two years or more, one more trip to the Jobcentre or an extra CV-writing course just won't make any difference. They are falling into a benefit system designed for adults that have lost their jobs rather than to help young people start careers. As a result too many have become long-term unemployed or underemployed in jobs with too few hours or low pay,” he added.
The LGA has proposed a number of locally-led measures to help young people find jobs, including replacing Jobcentre Plus with a Youth Transition Service run by local councils and employers to give 14 to 24 year olds advice, experience and training. Jobseekers Allowance would also be scrapped and replaced with a Youth Transition Allowance to remove young people from the adult benefits system and encourage them to “earn or learn”.
Estimates from the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) suggest that youth unemployment will cost the exchequer £28 billion over the next decade, at least £689 million a year on benefits, £2.2 billion in lost tax and £6.3 billion in lost economic output.
The LGA called for “radical change” to tackle youth disengagement and to help reduce the unemployment bill.
“Government cannot afford to spend inefficiently on 40 different schemes that compete, duplicate and conflict locally and must commit to devolving nationally-run education, skills and employment schemes to local areas able to join-up and target services so that our vulnerable young people are not left behind,” said Sparks.