2 days ago
The worklessness crisis ravaging Corbyn's North London enclave
Often lauded as one of London's most middle-class hubs, Islington seems an unlikely place for high unemployment.
Yet the numbers don't lie.
According to a new report, young people in the borough are more likely to be unemployed or out of education than almost all other parts of the country.
In fact, only four other local authorities have a higher likelihood of young people becoming Neet (not in education, employment nor training).
That is despite Islington boasting the ninth-highest level of household income in the UK at £38,638, well ahead of the national average of £21,259, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This disparity is encapsulated by Islington having the second-highest number of pupils on school meals in England, demonstrating the stark divide between Islington's rich and poor.
This wealth gap has been cited as one of the drivers for soaring worklessness in the borough, which has ballooned post-Covid.
'You have these pockets of extreme wealth next to these pockets of relatively severe deprivation,' says Ben Gadsby, the head of policy and research at the charity Impetus.
'There will definitely be some bits of Islington that will be noticeably more deprived than people are expecting.'
Barriers to work
Cavan is just one of many young people in the borough struggling to find work.
After leaving school, he had hoped to land a job in retail and even applied to the Army – but he remains unemployed.
To boost his chances of employment, Cavan recently enrolled in Spear Islington, a six-week scheme for 16 to 24-year-olds aimed at getting them into work, training or education.
The Spear programme, led by employment charity Resurgo, was found to have reduced a young person's likelihood of being Neet by 17pc, offering coaching and interview advice.
However, initiatives such as Spear are few and far between in Islington, as well as in areas nearby.
Ayesha Baloch, a senior policy adviser at Impetus, says there is a wide range of barriers that prevent young people from finding employment.
One such obstacle is a lack of awareness of what's out there, she says, particularly for poorer households.
'Part of the reason that work experience, internships and representation is so important is because it gives young people the opportunity to see someone like them working in sectors that they maybe wouldn't have heard of,' says Baloch.
'You have some communities where they're predominantly working in hospitality or they run restaurants so they maybe wouldn't have as much of a concept of working in a bank.'
Ironically, Islington's worklessness crisis has emerged despite Jeremy Corbyn, the constituency's MP, previously winning over young workers by championing radical Left-wing policies. During his time as Labour leader, he vowed to abolish university tuition fees and introduce a £10 minimum wage for under-18s.
However, since splitting from his former party and serving Islington North as an independent, Corbyn has increasingly focused on more geopolitical issues such as the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Meanwhile, thousands of young people in his constituency struggle to find work, like many others elsewhere in the country.
There are 923,000 16 to 24-year-olds classed as Neet in the UK, according to the ONS, up from 793,000 in 2020.
As well as Islington, other local authorities affected by the crisis include Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Nottingham and Hartlepool.
Soaring Neet figures have prompted charities to take action.
Gadsby says that reducing the rate of Neets is 'about understanding different people's needs and a programme that works for them'.
'Different young people are going to have different challenges, which I think is part of the reason this has been a perennial problem, because there probably isn't a simple one-size-fits-all scheme that solves everything,' he says.
Rise in mental health complaints
Another barrier facing young people is a lack of preparation.
A recent report from IPPR found that fewer than half of young people (47pc) felt ready for work after education.
Mangala Nanda, chief learning officer at Generation, a charity that runs job-specific boot camps to get people into work, says 'the link between education and employment is not strong enough'.
'We see that there are lots of people who go into university, they've taken on all of that debt, and then six months go by, one year goes by, two years go by – and they've not managed to get a job,' she says.
Resurgo is one of the charities attempting to help Neets in Islington, working with youngsters who face barriers such as poor qualifications, a family history of unemployment or special educational needs.
Pete Bacon, the deputy chief executive of the group, said a sharp rise in mental health complaints post-Covid has also fuelled unemployment.
'The number of young people we enrol who are now reporting mental health issues of some type feels really significant,' he says.
'The amount of young people we now speak to who, day to day, are just not leaving their house, sometimes, no exaggeration, for years they won't have actually left their building'.
One of Resurgo's most successful offerings is the Spear programme.
At Spear Islington, its six-week programme is in full swing. Young people are hearing from coaches about professionalism in their workplace, phone communication skills and practising interview techniques.
'I've personally learnt to be more confident and to know it's not just me that has a hard time looking for jobs or looking for studies, it's a community of people that struggle,' says Hailey, one of the participants.
The programme also works with local companies to create a network between young people and businesses.
However, others claim a complete shift in perception is needed to help Islington's unemployed youngsters.
Anna, the centre manager of Spear Islington, says: 'We need to myth-bust that Islington is just a wealthy borough because it's got wealth.
'It also has great deprivation, and I think that can often get overlooked depending on where you go and what circles you mix in.'
