A new report by the Resolution Foundation has found, up to a third of young people face living in private rented accommodation all their lives. The think tank said 40% of “millennials” – those born between 1980 and 1996 – were living in rented housing by the age of 30. That was twice as many as “generation X” – those born between 1965 and 1980. The government said it was already putting policies in place to improve the housing market. The Foundation’s Home
According to the study by centre-right think tank Reform fast food giants, coffee shops and retailers are relabelling low-skilled jobs as apprenticeships and gaining subsidies for training. The report says many firms have rebranded existing roles after being obliged to contribute cash to on-the-job training. It adds that 40% of government-approved apprenticeship standards do not meet a traditional definition of them. The government says “quality” is at the heart of its apprenticeship reforms. As part of the changes, it
Former students will be able to earn more before they have to start paying back their tuition fee loans. English and Welsh students who took out loans from September 2012 onwards – when fees in England rose to up to £9,000 a year – will now start to pay back when they earn £25,000 a year instead of £21,000. The government says the move could save graduates up to £360 a year. The National Union of Students said the change was “welcome
Malnourished pupils with grey skin are “filling their pockets” with food from school canteens in poor areas due to poverty, head teachers say. The heads, from various parts of England and Wales, described differences in the appearance of some pupils. One head said: “My children have grey skin, poor teeth, poor hair; they are thinner.” The government said measures were in place to tackle poverty. Lynn, a head teacher from a former industrial town in Cumbria, who did not want to give her full
“There can be so much disappointment and loneliness because we are encouraged to aspire and have ambitions – and then what happens when we fail? “Maybe exam results aren’t good enough. The ideal you’ve been built up for – like being a footballer, being a doctor – doesn’t happen.” This 20-year-old woman, interviewed for a study on youth loneliness, captures the sense of pressure and isolation many young people say they feel. The research, by Manchester Metropolitan University and the young person’s mental
