Are you concerned about youth unemployment figures?

mkooo

“The latest figures show youth unemployment remains largely unchanged with the total number of young people out of work rising to 957,000. Similarly, the youth unemployment rate has stuck at 20.5%.

“Stubborn long-term youth unemployment shows no signs of easing with 265,000 16-24 year olds having been jobless for more than one year, and 431,000 out-of-work for over six months.”

“This is undoubtedly one of the biggest problems of our time. The effects are sorely felt by nearly one million individuals and their families, and ripple through communities, society and the economy today and for years to come.

“Voters say that youth unemployment is the third most important issue facing the country, and 80% think that the Government’s policy is not working.

“All political parties need to step up the plate and take big, bold action to combat youth unemployment. They must look at the most effective ways to help more businesses – particularly small and medium enterprises –take on more young people.”

Quotes taken from - http://www.millionjobs.org.uk

2sides2everystory

My feeling is that this important section of our society is likely to be the most manipulated by big retail, which is the only significant employment sectors left now for that part of our youth who have no significant experience or qualification. I guess the next step up is call centres in some parts of the country where they will also be manipulated mercilessly if they are "lucky enough" to land "jobs".

Two generations ago, before out of town superstores and shopping malls, before improvements in health and in workplace safety meaning fewer died at work or died young, before Thatcher smashed the mining industry, and before UK agriculture was decimated as a workplace, those last two took a not significant portion of our male youth. British clothing factory workers also made the majority of M&S suits for example and that sort of industry I guess balanced up the male/female picture of work.

Two generations ago I think fewer females expected jobs but those that did, if there were no local factories of any ilk, traditionally found work as shop assistants in jobs we now call retail, or as sundry factory workers in places such as food processing. Unless or until they had a family, they could almost be forgiven for expecting to hold those jobs as full time jobs for life. That is an expectation which we would now find laughable.

The sea change in our lifetimes has never been addressed by successive governments. In fact we have gone backwards.

Two generations ago I was developed out of a family of generations of agricultural labourers and other manual workers by being given a complete grammar school and university education on the state.

It enabled me to choose my life.

Contrast that with the way we do "education" now on the cheap. We are failing our children big time now. The question is when will we fix it ?