Young people want to work. Yet we are stopping them

Telegraph

2 days ago

In my industry, I meet countless young people full of energy and potential. Hospitality has always offered opportunities for those who are ambitious, practical and determined to get ahead – particularly those spurning university to get straight into the jobs market.
But more and more, I hear the same frustration from employers: it's getting harder to bring young people into the workforce and keep them there.
This isn't because young people don't want to work. It's because we've created an environment that makes it incredibly difficult for them to start. Nearly one million young people are now not in education, employment or training (NEETs).
This is an economic disaster, but it is also a profound waste of human potential.
Above all, it is a failure in policy. Because while the Government talks a good game on growth, the reality is it is building an environment at odds with young people's natural desire to get on and succeed.
Take the benefit system. I was shocked to read in new research from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) that by 2026, someone out of work due to anxiety, receiving both Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment, will receive more than £25,000 a year. A full-time worker on the national living wage, meanwhile, will take home only around £22,500 after tax.
This is not a criticism of those receiving support. The fault lies ultimately with a benefits system that, however well-intentioned, now too often rewards economic inactivity and traps people in dependency.
It can't be right that some interviews with potential claimants are now done online and over Zoom. We must not forget that the ultimate goal of welfare should be to provide hand up not a handout.
The problem is being compounded by short-sighted policies. Recent increases in National Insurance have raised costs for employers – especially in labour-intensive sectors like hospitality – and made it harder to create and sustain jobs. Hospitality has been hit hardest: since April, almost 70,000 jobs have been lost, reversing a gain of 18,000 last year.
Add to that talk of more tax rises, and we risk sending a clear message to young people: effort doesn't pay, and enterprise isn't welcome.
We've been here before. In the 1970s, Britain learnt the hard way that punishing work and subsidising idleness leads to stagnation and decline. Today we face a similar moment. If we want a dynamic, outward-looking economy again, we need to restore the link between work and reward.
That means rebalancing the benefits system. The CSJ's proposals to tighten eligibility for long-term sickness claims based on less severe mental health conditions, using the savings to reinvest in NHS therapy, would be positive step in the right direction.
Another idea is to use the saving to bring in tax relief for employers taking on NEETs. What better way to ameliorate the effects of the NICs rise for businesses, solve our inactivity problem and help thousands more young people reap all the financial and mental health benefits a job? The scheme would more than pay for itself, the CSJ finds, in added value to the economy.
We cannot allow young people to drift, unsupported, when they could be building careers, confidence, and lives of purpose.
A modern economy should reward ambition, support those who fall on hard times, and help people into meaningful work. For Britain's young people, there is no time to lose.