Urgent action is needed to reverse youth unemployment, says NCUB

The Government must act now to help generation-Covid. This is in response to new ONS figures published today that show that unemployment for those aged 18 to 24 is up to 13.6% for July to September 2020. Employment is now at a record low.

Dr Joe Marshall, Chief Executive of NCUB said: “New figures released today follow the same worrying pattern we have witnessed since the pandemic began. Unemployment amongst young people has continued to rocket, rising to 13.6% for July to September, from 11.5% in April to June among 18 to 24 year olds. We have now hit a record low of just 3.5 million young people in employment. Generation-Covid continues to be the hardest hit. What’s more there has been a record high number of redundancies in the three months to September, increasing by a record 181,000 this quarter. These new figures today truly hammer home the scale of the crisis we face and demonstrate the need for urgent action.”

Marshall continued: “More must be done by the Government to reverse this worrying trend. Although measures announced so far are certainly steps in the right direction, with the levels of unemployment reaching record highs, we clearly need more drastic measures in place. We need more support in place for those people looking for employment, not just protecting existing jobs. We are calling on the Government to incentivise UK businesses to hire the nation’s young people. To support those businesses that are continuing to hire young people in these unprecedented times, the Government should temporarily abolish National Insurance Contributions for young people under the age of 25. This would help young people into employment and help employers to retain talent and valuable entry level jobs. Young people want to play a role in our economic recovery, and more must be done to help them.”