Last year, I asked people aged 15-25 to name the single biggest challenge facing young people today. Almost half said it was the cost of living, describing difficulties saving up to buy or even rent, because their wages do not go far enough to pay for everyday things. They are also impacted by the rising cost of public transport, and the cost of supermarket goods.
The open-ended responses highlighted this frustration, where a lot of young people described how they were missing out on some rites of passage that previous generations got. Even the basics of getting a good job – or in some cases even getting on the career ladder – were being disrupted by jobs requiring years of experience for entry level positions.
I recently met with Pat McFadden, the Secretary of Work and Pensions, where I discussed these findings with him, and in particular about the challenges Mid Derbyshire residents are having accessing good local jobs.
He was very interested in the youth survey findings. Young people do want to work, and they are struggling mentally throughout the application process. Some spoke of despair from not being able to get into the industry they want after spending years building up qualifications for it, and others felt like they were trapped in a cycle of applying for jobs only to not hear back or to get rejected because they lacked experience for the role – and they needed the job to get that experience.
Pat McFadden flagged with me action the Labour government is taking to try and resolve some of these issues. It has created a new Youth Jobs Grant, which will pay businesses £3,000 for every young person they hire aged 18-24 who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months. There is also an apprenticeship Incentive of £2,000 for each new employee aged 16-24 taken on by a small and medium sized business.
He promised me that more is planned to create jobs for young people that will set them up for life. Measures like these will help young people get experience and create a pathway into the world of work, which many feel has become an unsurmountable barrier to their future.