With UK unemployment rising, will the government’s plan for young people pay off? An economist’s view

By Rachel Scarfe, Lecturer in Economics, University of Stirling

There are nearly one million young people in the UK who are not in employment, education or training (so-called Neets). After falling in number during the 2010s before the pandemic, this cohort of 16 to 24-year-olds has grown from 750,000 only six years ago. This is a worrying shift, for several reasons.

Research shows that a spell of unemployment at a young age can have outsized negative effects on the young person. Workers who were unemployed for even a short time at a young age have to contend with…

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