"But getting that start is becoming harder than it was. This week, unemployment rates for 18- to 24-year-olds hit a high not seen outside the pandemic since 2015. School leavers are now competing for work stacking shelves or pulling pints with overqualified new graduates who can't find graduate jobs, at a time when pubs, shops and cafes don't seem to be hiring."
"The Centre for Policy Studies thinktank calculates that it will cost 26% more to hire an 18- to 20-year-old by this spring than it did in 2024. That reflects government decisions taken for perfectly good reasons, including hiking employers' national insurance to fund the NHS, plus two chunky rises to the minimum wage for the under-20s (now 10 an hour) in line with manifesto promises to level it up with the higher adult rate (now 12.21)."
Teenage starter jobs have declined for decades for reasons including academic pressures and online side hustles, but many people still begin work in their teens. Starter roles now often begin later, with unemployment for 18- to 24-year-olds at pandemic-era highs not seen since 2015. School leavers compete with overqualified graduates for retail and hospitality positions while pubs, shops and cafes struggle to hire. Employers cite rising costs, with a thinktank calculating a 26% increase in hiring an 18- to 20-year-old since 2024 driven by higher national insurance and significant minimum-wage increases for under-20s.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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