How to Solve Britain’s Youth Unemployment Crisis

Alastair Campbell (0:01)

If the Burnham government is to be a success, then of the many challenges that need to be met, the education, employment and training crisis among young people is right up there. How can we claim to be making the most of our potential as a country when we have more than 1,000,000 16 to 24 year olds who are NEETs? That is not in education, employment or training. That is one in every eight. And unless there is major intervention, we could be at one in six within five years. The cost to the economy is enormous and the cost to so many individuals likewise. It's no wonder there is a mental health crisis among the young. Alan Milburn, former new Labour cabinet minister, is the man charged with trying to work out what has gone wrong and how we can put it right. And he joins us today for a very special Question Time. We've had so many questions from listeners and viewers. Why is it happening? And more importantly, what on earth do we do about it?

Rory Stewart (1:00)

This episode is powered by Fuse Energy.

Alastair Campbell (1:03)

Most energy companies are counting on you doing absolutely nothing. Not questioning what you're paying, not switching, just letting your tariff roll on, which is costing you hundreds of pounds every year.

Rory Stewart (1:13)

But the apathy goes deeper than our bills. We've almost given up on energy itself.

We seem to all be accepting energy is expensive, the system is outdated. But that complacency is costing us.

Alastair Campbell (1:25)

Fuse Energy does not accept that, because the energy transition is not something that just happens somewhere else.

Rory Stewart (1:31)

Fuse is building an energy company which is designed to bring down the cost of energy. And right now, its tariffs are up to 100 pounds below the off-gem price cap.

Alastair Campbell (1:41)

So switching isn't just about paying less, it's about expecting more from your energy company, and it only takes you three minutes.

Rory Stewart (1:49)

Switch to Fuse at fuseenergy.com/politics, and you'll get a free trip plus subscription, allowing you to hear all the extraordinary members' content that Alastair and I are now producing for you. Visit fuseenergy.com for full terms and conditions.

Welcome to The Rest Is Politics Question Time with me, Rory Stewart.

Alastair Campbell (2:16)

And me, Alastair Campbell.

Rory Stewart (2:17)

So first question for our special session with Alan Milburn is from Susie, who says, what is this issue about needs? What's going on here? What's the scale of this problem? Why is it something that we should care about?

Alan Milburn (2:30)

Well, it's a million young people, all thereabouts, aged 16 to 24, who are not in education, employment and training. The number's been rising. It's around 14% of that population.

The truth is, Rory, it's been a problem for a very long time. The need rate, it's a horrible word, by the way. So if listeners have got a better suggestion than the word need, I'd be grateful for it. It's been around for a very long time. The need rate has barely been below 10% in 25 years. So this is a problem that is endemic, it's chronic, but it's also different from what it was before. Our generation tends to think of the problem through the youth unemployment lens. This is no longer about youth unemployment.

This is about youth detachment. Six in 10 of these young people have never worked. They never had the chance to be unemployed because they've never been employed.

So this is a different phenomenon. And a lot of it is driven by health, particularly mental ill health, but changes in the labour market and so on. So, you know, I talk about a lost generation and that is the real risk. If you've got a million young people potentially rising to a million and a quarter over the course of the next few years, who've got no attachment either to the world of work or the world of learning, that is storing up a huge amount of problems for the future.

Rory Stewart (3:47)

And am I right in saying there's something actually quite dramatically British about this, that it's a little bit different from what's happening in other advanced economies?

Alan Milburn (3:57)

Yes, absolutely. It is.

I think we've got the second worst neat rate in the whole of Europe.

Romania is below, but comparable countries, 50 miles to the west, Ireland has got a neat rate that's about half, 50 odd miles to the east, Holland has got a neat rate that is about a third. So there's a peculiarly British problem. And it's a product of a lot of things, of course. It's a problem of labor market change, fewer entry-level jobs, all of that sort of stuff that's been going on. People talk about the decline of the Saturday job, fewer apprenticeships for young people. That combined with this mental health crisis has created a perfect storm that is very peculiar to Britain. And we haven't frankly had the right public policy response, and not, to be candid, have we had the right response from employers and educators and others in civil society.