Four-fold rise in long-term young jobless
More than 5000 out of work for 12 months
THE number of young people out of work in Scotland for more than 12 months has almost quadrupled in the past year, prompting claims ministers lack a strategic vision to tackle the blight of a lost generation.
Labour’s youth employment spokeswoman Kezia Dugdale was speaking after she received the latest statistics through an answer to a parliamentary question tabled by her colleague Jackie Baillie.
Youth Employment Minister Angela Constance responded with figures for the claimant count for people aged from 16 to 24, including numbers claiming for more than six months and more than 12 months.
Msdugdale said these revealed the number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work for more than a year and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance had increased from 1520 to 5635 in the past year. The number of young people jobless for more than six months almost doubled from 8750 to 15,865.
She said: “These figures are devastating. We know long periods of unemployment scar young people for life. These young people will be at the back of the queue for jobs when the economy gets better and they simply cannot afford to wait.
“Sadly, they are relying on an SNP minister who has blown her entire budget on pocket-money press releases before even final- ising her youth employment strategy. So far, there has been nothing strategic about the SNP’S approach.”
She added: “By parking young people on short-term projects and hoping the economy will pick up, the SNP is doing a huge disservice to the thousands of young Scots that can’t find work.
“What the country needs is a national jobs guarantee scheme like the Future Jobs Fund, but what we’ve got from the SNP is a piecemeal approach where
Theses figures are devastating. We know long periods of unemployment scar young people for life
millions have been frittered away in pre-election giveaways.
“It’s time the SNP stepped up its efforts and started to take this issue seriously.”
The regional nature of the problem is thrown into stark relief by the breakdown of the statistics. In Aberdeen the total number of claimants aged 16 to 24 fell between April 2011 and April this year, from970 to 890, although the longer-termfigures increased. Those claiming for more than six months rose from 140 to 255, while those out of work for more than a year rose from 15 to 70.
In Glasgow, the overall number increased from 6575 to 6710, but the long-term figures were even worse. The six-month statistic rose from 1705 to 2520, while the one-year figure rose from 485 to 900. In North Ayrshire, the figure for those out of work for a year or more rose five-fold, from 55 to 260. Shetland still has not had a single young person out of work for more than a year.
Apart from creating the post of youth employment minister, the Scottish Government has put extra funding of £30 million into tackling the problem.
Some £18m of that came from Barnett consequentials from the Youth Contract scheme, which does not operate in Scotland.
So far, £6m has gone into a scheme that allows social enterprises to hire and train young people, £21.5m has gone to a third-sector challenge fund to hire 800 young staff, and £1.5m has gone specifically to the most vulnerable job seekers, such as those who have been in care.
Some £9m has gone to six of the worst-affected local authorities to spend according to local priorities – Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and East Ayrshire.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Directors claimed radical action to cut “restrictive” regulation was key to getting people into work. Referring to this week’s publication of the Beecroft Report, its director general Simon Walker said: “Less red tape means more jobs.” IT has already been a good few days for Mark Zuckerberg after he pocketed more than a $1billion when Facebook shares floated on the stock exchange.
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