Unions have criticised the slow progress of government action to support young people out of education, employment or training (NEET).
While figures published by the Department for Education (DfE) show the proportion of 16 to 18 year olds who are NEET fell by 1.4% this year (28,000) to 9.1%, unions have warned government action was creating a ‘lost generation’.
The Government welcomed the figures as the lowest comparable level for 13 years. Data suggests this marked the fifth consecutive quarter of reductions in the rate of 16 to 24 year olds who are NEET.
Skills Minister Matthew Hancock: ‘We are heading in the right direction, but one young person out of work, education or training, is one too many. That is why we are continuing to work hard to give young people the skills, confidence and experience demanded by employers and universities.’
Unions said the figures were putting the Government to shame, and argued the one million young people still classed as NEET had become a lost generation thanks to economic mishandling and central cuts.
General secretary of Unite, Len McCluskey, said: ‘[The Government’s] disastrous handling of the economy means all it is prepared to offer our young people is an insecure future of low paid employment, creating a lost generation with no hope and no future.
‘Scrapping educational maintenance allowance, hiking up tuition fees, axing youth services and cutting housing benefit for young people deepens their marginalisation. This is not the way to build a healthy society.’
General secretary of Unison, Dave Prentis, said: ‘The slow rate of progress in getting our young people into work, education or training shames this Government. Every statistic represents a young person who is being given no hope for the future.’
‘Our young people are being let down by Government cuts to careers services, high youth unemployment and the rocketing cost of continuing education.
