Expand jobs, not cut benefits!

The headline finding from Alan Milburn’s report on young people and work is that over a million people aged 16-24 are “NEETs” – not in education, employment or training. In the next five years, that could rise to one in six young people.

Given that the socialist movement, and the workers’ movement more generally, relies on an influx of young workers, this is sobering news that deserves our attention. But it would be easy to jump to wrong conclusions, as several prominent politicians already have.

Milburn’s report cites a combination of multiple factors leading to the rise: young people are more likely than preceding generations to be open about their mental health status, and to take help and support where needed (Milburn emphasises that there is no evidence for young people inventing mental health problems, simply that they report them more consistently); Covid’s effects on workplaces and on practices among young people set trends for staying home rather than entering the world of work; years of declining high street activity, particularly in retail, means that there are fewer entry-level jobs available for young people, and more entry-level jobs now require that applicants have work experience.

Milburn also posits that Labour raising the minimum wage may have had the effect of discouraging businesses from hiring young people, when paired with the effects of war and price spikes over the last few years.

A full explanation requires careful research and expert insight. Neither are present in the Tory response, echoed by some in Labour’s ranks: to get the youth into work by cutting benefits.

Universal Credit is currently so low that it leaves recipients fighting just to stay alive. The idea that young adults are sat at home gorging themselves is a laughable caricature. Cutting benefits would have the effect of further punishing those who’ve been shut out of traditional paths to a decent living, including those who, for a number of good reasons such as long-term disability and chronic health conditions, are not able to work at all.

Any serious answer to these questions must throw out this dangerous idea from the start; and instead look to expanding public services and to green conversion, which create millions of good new jobs. §