The Covid-19 crisis could drive up youth unemployment by 600,000 this year and ‘scar’ the long term prospects of an entire generation, acc...
The Covid-19 crisis could drive up youth unemployment by 600,000 this year and ‘scar’ the long term prospects of an entire generation, according to a think tank.
In a hard-hitting report, the Resolution Foundation predicted youth unemployment could top one million, more than doubling from the current level of 408,000.
It estimated that around 800,000 people aged between 18 and 24 are set to leave education this year.
With unemployment expected to soar this year as struggling firms slash costs, the think tank warns the ‘corona class of 2020’ could face years of reduced pay and limited job prospects.
Pictured: stock image of a young person upset. In a hard-hitting report, the Resolution Foundation predicted youth unemployment could top one million, more than doubling from the current level of 408,000
But it also warned that younger people who have just joined the work force, including recent graduates, are more likely to be made redundant as many firms adopt a ‘last in, first out’ policy.
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility total unemployment in the UK could hit ten per cent by the end of June, as two million people are thrown out of work.
This would mark a more dramatic rise in the unemployment rate - currently at 4 per cent -than the one experienced during the last financial crisis more than a decade ago.
But the Resolution Foundation said evidence from previous recessions shows young people who have just left full-time education are hit harder than other age groups.
It also pointed out that those who have recently left education are more likely to work in sectors which have been hardest hit by the lock-down.
Over the past decade, it said one-in-three non-graduates, and one-in-five graduates, have got their first employment experience after education in sectors such as retail, hospitality, travel and leisure.
Urging the Government to provide financial support to allow younger people to remain in education and boost their skills, Kathleen Henehan, research and policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: ‘The 800,000 young people set to leave education this year amid an unprecedented economic crisis are facing huge immediate unemployment risks, and longer-term damage to their careers. The ‘corona class of 2020’, long after the current economic storm has passed, unless the Government provides additional support - and fast.’
The findings fuel fears of the long term impact of the Covid-19 on younger people.
Former Bank of England governor Lord King (pictured) predicted younger people may come to resent their futures being jeopardised to prolong the life expectancy of the elderly
Former Bank of England governor Lord King has warned the Government faces a ‘rebellion’ from the younger generation if it locks down Britain for too long.
He warned the damage was particularly acute for the younger generation and that it would have a ‘long lasting effect on their well-being and careers’.
And he predicted younger people may come to resent their futures being jeopardised to prolong the life expectancy of the elderly, many of whom do not have much longer to live anyway.
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