The whole nation suffers when young people abandon the jobs market
SIR – I agree with Matthew Lynn's assessment of the importance of ensuring that work pays (Business Comment, April 26). He points out that the benefits and the taxation systems encourage anti-work mindsets across the income scale. As a result the usual social and ethical attitudes to work are undermined to an extent which the country inevitably struggles to afford.
While the pandemic has made it worse, the problem of what to do about those not in education, employment or training (NEETs) has been a concern for decades. Local and national governments have struggled to analyse, understand and address the causes and effects. Meanwhile, the wellbeing of young people and that of our national economy decline in tandem.
Geoff Holmes
Hexham, Northumberland
SIR – The report (April 25) that young people will not work for less than £40,000 is deeply worrying. This inactivity in itself will lead to ill health in mid-life. Anyone who can physically work should not be paid benefits to lounge at home.
Barbara Marshall
Helmdon, Northamptonshire
SIR – Matthew Lynn seems to be on the side of 16- to 24-year-olds who are reluctant to leave their homes – or even beds – for less than £40,000.
After what a colleague once called 'the most expensive education that money can buy' and three years at a blue-chip university, I found myself depressed, also in my bed most of the day and funding a serious alcohol habit. A kindly clerk at Hanwell Department of Health and Social Security suggested I might be interested in a job involving cooking, cleaning and emptying the occasional commode for the housebound elderly.
I wasn't, but ended up doing it for more than two years before moving into a 40-year career in community mental health, an area which desperately needs bright, creative young staff. The prospects and pay may be poor, but the rewards are immense.
Jeremy Walker
London WC1
SIR – I take issue with Stuart Harrington (Letters, April 26) on today's youth. This is a generation who were banned from school and forced to wear masks when they did go, in erroneous measures to protect them from a disease that mostly affected the elderly. They now cannot find worthwhile employment and, even when they do, are deprived of the camaraderie and help offered by team work, instead working from home at least some of the time.
They have little chance of owning a home, or even renting one. They have been terrified into believing that the world is burning up. They can see baby boomers enjoying a standard of life they can only dream of.
Let's all be a little kinder and show some understanding.
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Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Telegraph
‘Covid generation' left behind by Labour's bid to beat worklessness
Youngsters whose education was blighted by Covid are now too old to benefit from the latest scheme for jobseekers, the Government has been warned. Those who studied for their A-levels or college qualifications during the first lockdown are now typically 22 or older – but the new jobs guarantee scheme applies only to those aged up to 21. Stephen Evans, the chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, a think tank, warned that people who lost out on getting a job because of lockdown are now at risk of missing out again. He said: 'The Youth Guarantee, which is a good idea, is focused on 18 to 21-year-olds, making sure they get help to find a job or apprenticeship, and actually it really needs to be 16 to 24-year-olds. Your problems don't stop when you turn 22.' Half of all 22 to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment, or training – officially known as Neets – have never had a job. At that point 'it becomes more and more difficult', said Mr Evans. 'Employers look at your CV and see you have no work experience, and you end up at the back of the queue. We need urgent action for that group, not just the 18 to 21-year olds.' Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, launched the £45m jobseekers scheme at an event in Liverpool, promising to help match young people with jobs or training programmes. 'This is particularly worrying' It comes as new figures show there are 923,000 people aged 16 to 24 who are Neets. While down from the peak over winter, it is still up from 750,000 before the pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics. Almost 500,000 of them are aged between 21 and 24. Mr Evans said: 'You have got a bit of the pandemic generation coming through here, who had disrupted education and then disrupted transitions into work, and you've got the longer-term decline of people working alongside education as well, the classic Saturday jobs. 'This is particularly worrying.' In a shift from historical trends, young men are now roughly as likely as young women to be classed as economically inactive Neets – those who are neither in work nor looking for work, nor in education. In part that is because girls and women tend to leave school, college and university with better grades, while women are less likely now than in the past to care for family members or to look after the home, said Mr Evans. But there has also been a sharp rise in male inactivity. As well as the pandemic effect, there has 'been a rise in the number of young men inactive due to long-term sickness, particularly citing mental health conditions', Mr Evans said. Other government policies are not helping, with the rise in the minimum wage and the increase in employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) proving particularly painful for younger staff. The threshold at which employer NICs start to be paid was cut last month from a salary of £9,100 to just £5,000, meaning more low-paid and part-time workers' jobs have been dragged into the tax net. This harms employment prospects in industries including retail and hospitality, which often give youngsters their first positions. Sarah Yong, at the Youth Futures Foundation, said more youngsters are becoming stuck in unemployment. She said: 'Around one in four unemployed young people who are Neets have been looking for work for over a year, highlighting the persistent nature of this issue. 'Among this group, one in five lack any formal qualifications – double the rate seen across the wider youth population. 'Being out of work and education can have a scarring effect on young people even decades later, impacting their wellbeing, future prospects and much more. 'Aside from the moral imperative to act, there is a clear economic case: if we could put in sustained effort as the Netherlands have done and match their Neet rate, which is the lowest in the OECD, this would be worth £69bn to our economy and would mean approximately 500,000 more young people earning or learning.' Eight regions in the UK will receive £5m each for the 'trailblazer' jobs and training schemes, which will particularly focus on vulnerable youngsters. This includes those leaving care, of whom 40pc are not in education, employment or training. Ms Kendall said: 'Every young person should have the chance to thrive. Today's data shows progress, with 64,000 more young people earning or learning. However, there are still nearly 1m young people locked out of the system and being written off. 'I am determined to change that, which is why we are breaking down barriers to opportunity through our Plan for Change by investing £45m in our Youth Guarantee to give every young person the chance to get on in life.'
Telegraph
27-04-2025
- Telegraph
The whole nation suffers when young people abandon the jobs market
SIR – I agree with Matthew Lynn's assessment of the importance of ensuring that work pays (Business Comment, April 26). He points out that the benefits and the taxation systems encourage anti-work mindsets across the income scale. As a result the usual social and ethical attitudes to work are undermined to an extent which the country inevitably struggles to afford. While the pandemic has made it worse, the problem of what to do about those not in education, employment or training (NEETs) has been a concern for decades. Local and national governments have struggled to analyse, understand and address the causes and effects. Meanwhile, the wellbeing of young people and that of our national economy decline in tandem. Geoff Holmes Hexham, Northumberland SIR – The report (April 25) that young people will not work for less than £40,000 is deeply worrying. This inactivity in itself will lead to ill health in mid-life. Anyone who can physically work should not be paid benefits to lounge at home. Barbara Marshall Helmdon, Northamptonshire SIR – Matthew Lynn seems to be on the side of 16- to 24-year-olds who are reluctant to leave their homes – or even beds – for less than £40,000. After what a colleague once called 'the most expensive education that money can buy' and three years at a blue-chip university, I found myself depressed, also in my bed most of the day and funding a serious alcohol habit. A kindly clerk at Hanwell Department of Health and Social Security suggested I might be interested in a job involving cooking, cleaning and emptying the occasional commode for the housebound elderly. I wasn't, but ended up doing it for more than two years before moving into a 40-year career in community mental health, an area which desperately needs bright, creative young staff. The prospects and pay may be poor, but the rewards are immense. Jeremy Walker London WC1 SIR – I take issue with Stuart Harrington (Letters, April 26) on today's youth. This is a generation who were banned from school and forced to wear masks when they did go, in erroneous measures to protect them from a disease that mostly affected the elderly. They now cannot find worthwhile employment and, even when they do, are deprived of the camaraderie and help offered by team work, instead working from home at least some of the time. They have little chance of owning a home, or even renting one. They have been terrified into believing that the world is burning up. They can see baby boomers enjoying a standard of life they can only dream of. Let's all be a little kinder and show some understanding.
The Sun
26-04-2025
- The Sun
It's shocking idle young brats won't get out of bed for less than £40k but I know exactly what's to blame
IF I'd told my parents in the 1990s that I couldn't be bothered to get a job unless I was paid the equivalent of £40,000 a year, I can imagine their reaction. And it would not have been pretty. 7 7 Even my friends would have thought I was a jumped-up little madam who had lost her mind, because back then, getting your first job wasn't about the money. It was about getting your foot on that first rung of your career ladder. Now, it isn't. This week, House of Lords peers visibly gasped when an employment adviser told how kids are now 'on the internet 24 hours a day, and don't want to work for anything less than £40,000'. I was horrified when I heard that figure too. What a generation of entitled upstarts. Graham Cowley was giving evidence to a government inquiry into why there are almost a million 16 to 24-year-olds not bothering to work or study. Easy buck There are now so many of them not in employment, education or training that they have been given the acronym Neets. How absolutely gruesome. And it's shocking to me that they don't want to get a job and make something of their lives unless they are earning such an unrealistic salary. But is it any wonder, when they are on the internet 24 hours a day and often getting influenced by influencers who wouldn't get out of bed for less than £40,000 a month, never mind a year? They are seeing how you can make an easy buck with no real work, training or qualifications. Like Tories a decade ago, Labour need to show some steel to turn round number of 'inactive' Brits and they know it They are seeing their peers being chucked money for wearing a thong on a Dubai beach or flashing their new eyelashes. That must make the average kid quite jealous. It's easy money for not much work. But to sit on your backside sulking while hoping to become the next big content creator or get that dream salary to materialise is just madness. My generation lived in the real world when we started out. It is the only one we had. We knew that £40,000 a year didn't happen with a click of an influencer's fingers. Allowing these deluded youngsters to live off the Bank of Mum and Dad only encourages them to wait for that luxury salary Jane Atkinson My first job at 18 had a £6,700 salary, which is about £18,000 in today's cash, at a news agency in Darlington. Not very glamorous or lucrative, but I remember the exact figure because I was proud of that wage, that I was able to pay for my own flat and car. Kids now don't seem to realise that a proper job can give self-worth, pride, achievement and respect — regardless of the salary. It can be good for your mental health. With youngsters turning their noses up at starter salaries it is unsurprising that so many are suffering from depression. We also had the stumbling block of our parents' expectations to deal with. Mr Cowley told the inquiry he believes kids should be taught again that 'you need to put a shift in to get what you want in life'. I agree. And that is their parents' job. I find it baffling they are not getting this life lesson. Deluded youngsters The Lords responded to Mr Cowley's statement, with one saying young people 'are not stupid' and have actually decided 'it's more comfortable to stay in the house than it is to go and try and find your way through life' on low pay. Unless they are on benefits 'the house' for this lazy lot is the one belonging to their parents. Which means their parents are letting them down. Allowing these deluded youngsters to live off the Bank of Mum and Dad only encourages them to wait for that luxury salary. And then there is, so importantly, the issue of benefits. The Government says it is fighting to bring the number of Neets down by helping them get jobs, encouraging studying — and cutting benefits for these workshy, greedy layabouts and scroungers. This needs to happen. And fast. 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Brave Lorraine Kelly still invited the stony- faced EastEnders star on to her chat show, and managed to cover up the silence with her lovely, trademark giggle. Patsy took to social media afterwards, writing: 'There's nothing awkward about silence. It says it all!' Unless you're doing a live interview, Patsy, and then it just says you're rude. FLO AND BEHOLD 7 FLORENCE PUGH certainly made sure she grabbed our attention at the premiere of her new Marvel film Thunderbolts, squeezed into the tiniest leather bra and skirt number. It was eye-catching for all the wrong reasons – and I'm pretty sure she had her top on back to front. It looked as though she had borrowed the outfit from someone half her size. SEEING Pope Francis's close friend Sister Genevieve Jeanningros quietly sobbing as she said her final goodbye to him on Thursday was a reminder that the late Pontiff was also just a man who had friends, family and loved ones. 7 And it highlighted just how disgusting all those people were who said they had come to mourn him but actually stopped for a tacky selfie as they passed his coffin. Finally, the Vatican asked people to stop taking photos. You would think that some things really shouldn't need to be said. I HATE being told what to do. And despite the boss at the biscuit factory where McVitie's chocolate digestives have been made for the last 100 years saying that we should eat them with the chocolate on the bottom, I won't be turning mine the other way up. I don't think I've ever met anybody who eats them with the chocolate facing down. It makes them look like a boring digestive. And that takes all the fun away. PADDINGTON the musical is coming to the West End. Which could be amazing. But according to its creators, the plan is for this show to be less of the marmalade sandwiches type of fun, and more about exploring 'the politics of Paddington' and honouring the fact he is a refugee. Cheery.
