The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), in its latest report says despite steady falls in unemployment, there are still 868,000 out-of-work 16 to 24-year-olds.
The IPPR highlights a striking mismatch between what young people are training for and the types of jobs available. For example, it says, 94,000 people were trained in beauty and hair for just 18,000 jobs, while only 123,000 were trained in the construction and engineering sectors for an advertised 275,000 jobs.
Although the youth unemployment rate has fallen sharply from 20.9% a year ago to 17.8%, the IPPR says there are still 868,000 unemployed young people aged 16 to 24 and 247,000 of them have been looking for work for more than a year.
About 700,000 young people have never had a job.
A Work and Pensions Department spokesperson said the IPPR’s report was “misleading”, arguing that the number of unemployed young people who are not working full time had dropped to about 530,000. Read more | JOIN THE CONVERSATION
