Long-term youth unemployment to treble - government fund needs to target recession-hit youth
Date: 24/06/2009A new report from the Centre for Cities finds that long-term youth unemployment will almost treble, between now and the end of 2011. The number of long-term unemployed young people is likely to rise from 130,000 in May 2009 to 350,0001 by December 2011.
The Centre for Cities reveals that cities like Sunderland and Barnsley, Swindon and Milton Keynes have been hardest-hit by rising levels of youth unemployment.
The £1 billion Future Jobs Fund, announced in the 2009 Budget, aims to create 150,000 new jobs during 2009-11 for long-term unemployed young people. This will help less than half the expected 350,000 young people due to be long-term unemployed by Dec 2011.
The Centre for Cities finds that this Fund is a "sticking plaster" initiative. To maximise its impact, the Fund will need to be targeted on those cities where high increases in long-term youth unemployment have been caused specifically by the recession. Other funding streams, like the Flexible New Deal, will meanwhile address more ingrained and long-term unemployment.
Today's report identifies the cities with the highest levels of youth unemployment - and those which have experienced the highest increases:
Youth claimant counts in cities (see Notes to Editors for full tables)
|
|
Youth claimant count (as % of all young people), Feb 2008 |
Youth claimant count (as % of all young people), May 2009 |
Percentage point increase in youth claimant count (Feb 08 - May 09) |
|
Swindon |
2.39 |
7.67 |
5.28 |
|
Doncaster |
4.70 |
8.96 |
4.26 |
|
Barnsley |
4.95 |
9.13 |
4.19 |
|
Sunderland |
5.50 |
9.45 |
3.95 |
|
Wigan |
4.53 |
8.34 |
3.81 |
|
Hull |
6.25 |
9.85 |
3.59 |
|
Northampton |
2.99 |
6.53 |
3.54 |
|
Milton Keynes |
2.79 |
6.30 |
3.51 |
|
Mansfield |
4.18 |
7.61 |
3.42 |
|
Wakefield |
4.10 |
7.52 |
3.41 |
|
GB |
3.31 |
5.65 |
2.35 |
Source: NOMIS 2009, Claimant Count data for Feb 2008 and May 2009
The worst affected cities, such as Sunderland and Barnsley, have experienced an increase of four percentage points or more in their youth claimant count since the recession began. But it's not only Northern ex-industrial cities which are affected: Swindon and Milton Keynes have also seen big rises.
Dermot Finch, Director of the Centre for Cities, said: "The Government is right to introduce the Future Jobs Fund at this time. But it will not be big enough to help every long-term unemployed young person. So it will need to be targeted very carefully on those young people in cities that have seen a recent rise in unemployment due to the recession."
Cities need to stop the young and temporarily unemployed of today becoming the long-term workless of tomorrow. The priority for the Department for Work and Pensions and for cities themselves should be to mitigate the worst impacts of the recession, and prevent as many young people as possible from the professional "scarring" which accompanies spells of unemployment in early adulthood.
Andy Clarke, Chief Operating Officer at ASDA, said: "From an employer's perspective, and as a company continuing to invest in cities, we know it's vital that young people are given a hand through these difficult times. We need productive, skilled and motivated workforces across the country."
NOTES TO EDITORS
- ILO estimates from Oxford Economics project unemployment will reach 2.94 million by the end of 2011. Based on the current proportion of unemployed people who are aged 16-24 (40%), this means 1.18 young people will be unemployed by end-2011. Based on previous recessions, 30% of these (354,000) are likely to be unemployed for more than 12 months.
- Under 25s constitute one in five (21%) of Britain's working population, yet now make up two in five (40%) of the unemployed.
- Total youth unemployment is expected to rise to over 1 million by the end of 20102, with around one in three of these expected to have been out of work for more than a year.
- Youth unemployment has risen from 13.8% to 18.3% since the recession began. Adult unemployment has risen from 3.6% to 5.2%.
- Of the total 2.26 million people out of work, 888,000 (39%) are aged between 16-24: an increase of 190,000 young people in the last year.
- The 63 largest GB cities and towns contain 59% of the youth population, and 64% of the young people who are claiming benefits.
- When the class of 09 leaves formal education this summer, an estimated 300,000 graduates and 400,000 school leavers will join the queue of people looking for work.
- The deadline for the first round of bids for the Future Jobs Fund is 30 June.
For a full copy of the report, please visit www.centreforcities.org/youthunemployment
For more information, please contact:
Claire Maugham 07796 175 248 / 020 7803 4315
Cities with the highest increases in the youth claimant count
|
|
Primary Urban Area (PUA) |
Youth claimant count (as % of all young people) Feb 2008 |
Youth claimant count (as % of all young people) May 2009 |
Percentage point increase in youth claimant count (Feb 08 - May 2009) |
|
1 |
Swindon |
2.39 |
7.67 |
5.28 |
|
2 |
Doncaster |
4.70 |
8.96 |
4.26 |
|
3 |
Barnsley |
4.95 |
9.13 |
4.19 |
|
4 |
Sunderland |
5.50 |
9.45 |
3.95 |
|
5 |
Wigan |
4.53 |
8.34 |
3.81 |
|
6 |
Hull |
6.25 |
9.85 |
3.59 |
|
7 |
Northampton |
2.99 |
6.53 |
3.54 |
|
8 |
Milton Keynes |
2.79 |
6.30 |
3.51 |
|
9 |
Mansfield |
4.18 |
7.61 |
3.42 |
|
10 |
Wakefield |
4.10 |
7.52 |
3.41 |
|
11 |
Worthing |
2.34 |
5.70 |
3.36 |
|
12 |
Newport |
4.75 |
8.08 |
3.33 |
|
13 |
Gloucester |
2.78 |
6.11 |
3.33 |
|
14 |
Telford |
3.79 |
7.08 |
3.29 |
|
15 |
Rochdale |
4.93 |
8.21 |
3.28 |
|
16 |
Peterborough |
4.56 |
7.78 |
3.22 |
|
17 |
Warrington |
2.91 |
6.12 |
3.21 |
|
18 |
Burnley |
3.69 |
6.89 |
3.21 |
|
19 |
Derby |
3.61 |
6.80 |
3.19 |
|
20 |
Blackburn |
4.39 |
7.38 |
2.99 |
|
21 |
Huddersfield |
3.57 |
6.55 |
2.98 |
|
22 |
Stoke |
4.27 |
7.20 |
2.93 |
|
23 |
Chatham |
3.59 |
6.49 |
2.90 |
|
24 |
Bolton |
4.32 |
7.18 |
2.86 |
|
25 |
Crawley |
1.88 |
4.63 |
2.75 |
|
26 |
Birmingham |
5.77 |
8.50 |
2.73 |
|
27 |
Sheffield |
3.45 |
6.16 |
2.71 |
|
28 |
Birkenhead |
5.02 |
7.72 |
2.70 |
|
29 |
Southend |
3.05 |
5.71 |
2.66 |
|
30 |
Ipswich |
4.39 |
7.02 |
2.64 |
|
31 |
Bristol |
1.83 |
4.46 |
2.63 |
|
32 |
Aldershot |
1.44 |
4.06 |
2.62 |
|
33 |
Manchester |
3.65 |
6.21 |
2.56 |
|
34 |
Coventry |
3.81 |
6.36 |
2.55 |
|
35 |
Hastings |
5.74 |
8.29 |
2.55 |
|
36 |
Plymouth |
2.93 |
5.44 |
2.51 |
|
37 |
Middlesbrough |
6.05 |
8.50 |
2.45 |
|
38 |
Grimsby |
5.62 |
8.06 |
2.44 |
|
39 |
Leicester |
3.22 |
5.66 |
2.44 |
|
40 |
Swansea |
3.24 |
5.65 |
2.41 |
|
41 |
Dundee |
4.43 |
6.82 |
2.39 |
|
42 |
Bradford |
3.93 |
6.27 |
2.34 |
|
43 |
Glasgow |
4.06 |
6.36 |
2.30 |
|
44 |
Liverpool |
6.25 |
8.53 |
2.29 |
|
45 |
Bournemouth |
1.71 |
3.99 |
2.29 |
|
46 |
Leeds |
2.94 |
5.17 |
2.23 |
|
47 |
Luton |
3.24 |
5.46 |
2.21 |
|
48 |
Preston |
2.94 |
5.07 |
2.14 |
|
49 |
Nottingham |
3.44 |
5.52 |
2.08 |
|
50 |
Cardiff |
2.87 |
4.90 |
2.03 |
|
51 |
Reading |
1.38 |
3.39 |
2.01 |
|
52 |
Portsmouth |
2.31 |
4.31 |
2.00 |
|
53 |
Brighton |
2.99 |
4.97 |
1.98 |
|
54 |
Blackpool |
3.72 |
5.65 |
1.93 |
|
55 |
London |
3.24 |
5.12 |
1.89 |
|
56 |
Newcastle |
4.84 |
6.68 |
1.84 |
|
57 |
York |
1.63 |
3.43 |
1.80 |
|
58 |
Southampton |
2.14 |
3.88 |
1.73 |
|
59 |
Norwich |
2.83 |
4.57 |
1.73 |
|
60 |
Edinburgh |
2.14 |
3.48 |
1.34 |
|
61 |
Aberdeen |
1.58 |
2.64 |
1.06 |
|
62 |
Oxford |
1.05 |
2.10 |
1.05 |
|
63 |
Cambridge |
1.09 |
1.72 |
0.63 |
|
|
GB |
3.31 |
5.65 |
2.35 |
1.ILO estimates from Oxford Economics project unemployment will reach 2.94 million by the end of 2011. Based on the current proportion of unemployed people who are aged 16-24 (40%), this means 1.18 million young people will be unemployed by end-2011. Based on previous recessions, 30% of these are likely to be unemployed for more than 12 months.
