[ 2011-11-15 ]

The number of long-term unemployed young people is the group of most concern to the Government - as they may never work if they do not find a job early in their adult lives

Youth unemployment in UK on the rise due to 'honest figures'
In what has been billed as a major blow to the
Government, official be released tomorrow are
expected to show that more than a million young
people are now unemployed.

However, tens of thousands of teenagers whose
situation has not changed are now deemed to be
unemployed in the official figures – whereas
they were previously recorded as being in
back-to-work “training” programmes.

The statistical change has led to the number of
young people recorded as being long-term
unemployed rising by more than 50 percent since
the election.

Last night, Chris Grayling, the employment
minister, said: “It is absolutely right that
youth unemployment is a real challenge but I’ll
take no lessons from Labour who hid the real
extent of youth unemployment.

“We’re being upfront about the true scale of
the problem. We are not going to be hiding from
the challenge.”

Under the last Labour government, only young
people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for more
than six months were classed as long-term
unemployed. After 10 months claiming the benefit,
most of them were automatically moved onto a
training “allowance”, another type of state
benefit.

Therefore between 1998, the number of 18-24 year
olds claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for more
than six months fell from 120,000 to 35,000
people.


However, the Coalition has introduced a scheme
called the Work Programme which gives young people
work experience or training while they continue to
claim Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Therefore, the number of young people recorded as
long-term unemployed has risen sharply once again
by 64 percent this year to about 120,000 –
almost exactly the same level as before Labour
started reclassifying benefit claimants.

The number of long-term unemployed young people is
the group of most concern to the Government – as
they may never work if they do not find a job
early in their adult lives.

The one million unemployed youngsters in the
official figures expected to be announced tomorrow
also include students looking for work and those
between jobs for short periods. However, the
psychologically important figure is set to be
seized upon by Labour who will claim it shows that
Coalition policies are having a “devastating”
impact on young people.

The Government is braced for the overall
unemployment figure to pass through the three
million people level next year – a rate of
unemployment not seen since the late 1980s.

David Cameron and other senior ministers are
concerned about a series of poor economic
announcements this week and will spend the week
highlighting Government initiatives.


Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, will today
back a scheme encouraging more young people to
consider careers in manufacturing firms. Tomorrow,
the Government will also laud new proposals to
approve apprenticeships.

Yesterday, the Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development (CIPD) warned that the jobs market
is facing a “slow, painful contraction”, with
firms scaling back decisions on whether to recruit
more staff against a background of global economic
“turmoil”.

Confidence in the public sector remains low for
the next three months and will get worse next
year, said the CIPD after surveying 1,000
employers.

Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser at the CIPD,
said: “The figures point to a slow, painful
contraction in the jobs market.

“Many firms appear to be locked in wait-and-see
mode, with some companies scaling back on all
employment decisions against a backdrop of
increasing uncertainty as a result of the eurozone
crisis and wider global economic turmoil.

“There is no immediate sign of UK labour market
conditions improving in the short or medium
term.”

Source - The Telegraph

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