WIREDGOV

Commenting on figures published today (Thursday) by the ONS, which show that there were 900,000 young people (aged 16 to 24) in the UK who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in January to March 2024 – up from 812,000 in January to March 2023, an increase to 12.6% of all young people – TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:  

“Being unemployed at the start of your career has a lifelong impact – and hits your earnings for the rest of your life.  

“The UK must never allow mass youth unemployment to take hold and blight lives.  

“We need real help now to get young people the chance to develop their skills and build their experience of paid work. 

“And we need action to end the reliance on insecure precarious work that particularly affects young workers – every job should be a good job.  

“The general election is a vital chance to reset our labour market.  

“The New Deal for Working People will be a game changer for young workers. 

"It will ban zero-hours contracts. It will end the use of fire and rehire to water down pay and conditions. And it will protect young workers from being unfairly sacked from their first day in the job."