Schools are pipeline' to joblessness for many people, says ex-Labour adviser

A large cohort of young people in the UK is being pushed toward worklessness, with many not in education, employment, or training. Urgent action is called for to overhaul education and address a system that leaves young people abandoned and ill-equipped for a competitive jobs market. Social media is cited as a contributing factor, alongside failures from education and employers. Nearly one million young people are described as being wrongly labelled, while the underlying issue is framed as government and state failure. The UK is reported to have one of the highest NEET rates among Europe’s richest countries, with a sharp rise over the past decade and worsening mental ill-health.

"Schools have become a pipeline to worklessness for a large cohort of young people in the UK, according to an influential former Labour adviser who has called for urgent action to help a lost generation. Peter Hyman, a former adviser to Tony Blair and Keir Starmer, told the Guardian the government should ban social media and enact radical education reform to tackle the national scandal of young people who are not in education, employment or training (Neet)."

"Hyman called on ministers to overhaul a system that trapped the young in a rejection economy where they were being failed by the education system, employers and social media companies. The former headteacher said he was shocked at the sadness and despair experienced by school leavers who felt abandoned, ill-equipped and unable to enter an increasingly competitive jobs market. He added that close to one million were being wrongly classed as snowflakes, when in fact they were being failed by government and the state."

"The UK has the third-highest rate of young people who are Neet among Europe's richest countries, after a sharp rise to almost one million the highest level in more than a decade. Fuelling a growing sense of alarm in government, it comes as the former Blair-era cabinet minister Alan Milburn prepares to publish a highly anticipated report into the crisis in youth jobs next week. Milburn told MPs on Wednesday that Britain risked facing a generational problem that was worse than the damage inflicted on young people by the 2008 financial crisis."

"The rate of 16- to 24-year-olds who were Neet peaked at 16.8% in 2012 amid soaring unemployment after the banking crash. The rate fell back, although has since increased sharply to 12.8% amid a difficult jobs market and growing problems with mental ill-health. On the face of it we've got a smaller problem. But what I want to say to you is you've got a bigger problem."

Read at www.theguardian.com