Trend in youth worklessness could become a ‘major problem’ in Britain, warns report

PROGRESS MADE in recent decades on reducing youth worklessness could soon go into reverse, making it a “major problem” again, a new report has warned.

The Resolution Foundation said the decline of early parenthood is behind a big fall in the number of young people who are workless.

But the think tank said the decrease is mainly among young women, with slower progress for men, while it found a “worrying rise” in youth inactivity – those who are not in work, education or training, because of health problems.

Youth worklessness fell by 300,000 between 1995 and 2021 to 800,000, said the foundation.

Falling worklessness among women has been driven by lower rates of young parenthood, as well as an increase in women who choose to combine parenting with work, said the report.

The number of 18 to 24-yearold women who were economically inactive due to family care responsibilities fell by 220,000 between 2006 and 2021, according to the study.

The Resolution Foundation said the switch from unemployment to rising inactivity among young men needs “urgent attention” because inactive young people are less likely to move into work or study than unemployed young people.

The research found the proportion of young men who are workless for more than a year rose from 56 per cent to 70 per cent between 1995 and 2021. A key driver was rising inactivity due to long-term sickness or disability.

Louise Murphy, of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Back in the 1990s, widespread worklessness among young people was a major social and economic problem. Welcome progress has been made since then. But there are troubling signs for young men who have seen inactivity rates increase. Unless we address these challenges now, there is a risk that the welcome progress made in recent decades could soon go into reverse, with widespread youth worklessness becoming a major problem in Britain again.”

A Government spokesperson said unemployment was at its lowest since 1974, and in March workless households dropped by another 88,000 with a record number of jobseekers finding roles.