Labour under Andy Burnham has softened some of its harsher rhetoric about young people on benefits – as recently as last December, Pat McFadden told the BBC that young people on benefits would need a “good reason” to decline one of the government’s proposed work placements. But any genuine worry about a continued “lost generation” […]
Prolonged changes in the economy during the last 50 years have resulted in a continued decline in ‘youth jobs’ . Employment opportunities for post-war school leavers included apprenticeships – at their peak, up to I in 5 (invariably boys) started one every year – and a variety of openings for ’office juniors’ (more likely girls). […]
Andy Burnham is right in his comments about the narrow ‘academic’ curriculum, imposed on schools by Michael Gove. The Francis Review has recommended some changes but its main foundations will still be in place. He’s also right about the current low status given to technical and vocational courses. Yet there are, despite what some of […]
Despite the fanfare around the Milburn report, the Labour frontbench has said little new or shown any real urgency. The DWP put a junior minister on TV this week to officially announce the government plan to offer 300,000 work placements (these can be relatively short, even just a week). This decision, part of Labour’s Youth […]
Well before coming to office, Labour signalled its intention to address the ‘NEETs problem’. In government, it commissioned ex-minister Alan Milburn (previously employed by the Tories to try and improve social mobility) for a ‘review’. On the day his ‘interim’ report was published, ONS figures showed over a million 16–24-year-olds as NEET (13.5%) but 15.8% […]
