Press Story

Reacting to today's unemployment figures, the think tank IPPR says that although youth unemployment fell slightly to the end of March, for the most disadvantaged young people the job picture remains very bleak.

o Youth unemployment fell by 17,000 (to a total of 958,000)

o But the number of young people who are neither in work nor in full-time education increased by 22,000 (to a total of 1,362,000)
IPPR analysis shows that while the graduate unemployment rate up to the end of 2012 stood at almost 13 per cent, among those without good GCSEs it was almost 35 per cent, and worse still for those with no qualifications at all.

The figures break down as follows:

o Degree: 13 per cent
o A-level or equivalent: 15 per cent
o GCSE Grades A*-C or equivalent: 26 per cent
o Other Qualifications: 33%
o No Qualifications: 41%

Spencer Thompson, IPPR Economist, said:

"While the latest statistics show a welcome drop in overall youth unemployment, for those young people who are not in education, and those who don't have degrees, the situation is actually getting worse.

What is worrying about this trend is that this group is most at risk of permanent 'scarring' from extended periods of unemployment. Evidence shows that the longer they are out of the jobs market the more likely it is that their future employment prospects and earnings will be seriously damaged.

The Youth Contract and the Work Programme are delivering disappointing results and a rethink is needed

IPPR has long argued for a job guarantee, paid at the minimum wage or above, for any person who has been out of work and claiming JSA for more than a year, with an obligation on the part of the unemployed person to take the job or find an alternative. But over the longer-term, we need a wholesale transformation in the system of support for those transitioning from education to the world of work."

Notes to editors:

The latest unemployment statistics are available from:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/april-2013/index.html

IPPR's report - Jobs for the Future: The path back to full employment in the UK - is available from http://www.ippr.org/publications/55/7938/jobs-for-the-future-the-path-back-to-full-employment-in-the-uk

The final report of IPPR North's Northern Economics Futures Commission is available here: http://www.ippr.org/publication/55/9949/northern-prosperity-is-national-prosperity-a-strategy-for-revitalising-the-uk-economy

Contact:
Tim Finch, 07595 920899, t.finch@ippr.org