A new report released today from The Prince’s Trust and Learning and Work Institute warns that young people will increasingly bear the brunt of the unemployment crisis, at a growing cost to the UK economy.
The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a labour market crisis which is hitting young people hard. Young people are over-represented in ‘shutdown’ sectors that have been most affected by social distancing restrictions and more likely to have been furloughed. In addition to this, young people account for around two thirds of the total fall in employment since the start of the pandemic, and youth unemployment is almost four times higher than the rest of the working-age population.
Whilst progress with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine programme presents an optimistic picture for the re-opening of the economy, there is a real risk that the pandemic will have a long-lasting impact on the labour market and on opportunities for young people for years to come.
This report explores the impact of the pandemic on young people’s employment, their future job prospects, and the cost of higher youth unemployment. It is based on analysis of labour market data, economic modelling, surveys of employers and young people, and two focus groups with young people aged 17-27.
Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute said:
“Young people have been at forefront of the coronavirus jobs crisis. While we are hopefully slowly emerging from the worst of the pandemic, the legacy will be with us for years to come in the form of higher youth unemployment. “This is not just bad for young people. It will have a huge hit on our economy and our public finances, and it risks a long-lasting scarring impact on those affected. “If we are to tackle the looming youth jobs crisis, the Learning and Work Institute believes the Government must work with partners to urgently roll-out a ‘Youth Guarantee’ to support young people to access a job, an apprenticeship, education, or a high quality training opportunity.”
