Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately has said the government needs to “take action in the Budget” to “back businesses to employ more young people”, referring the one million young people who are not in employment, education or training (Neets).
Talking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Whately said the Labour party have “killed jobs” for the younger generation, with an increase of more than 174,000 young people unemployed.
Youth unemployment in the middle of this year hit an 11-year-high while the number of Neets crossed the 1m mark before dropping back.
This follows an independent review into mental health conditions including ADHD and autism by the Department of Health & Social Care after a steep increase in diagnoses for mental health conditions linking to the rise in youth unemployment, particularly in children in young people, published 8 October.
When asked whether the Conservative parties “tough love message” is right, Whately said it is “incredibly distressing” for young people who are getting “rejected from jobs repeatedly “endless rejections” from job applications.
“On the one hand, we need more jobs,” Whately said. “But we are also saying we need to recognise the welfare system isn’t helping people who are struggling with their mental health and neurodiversity.”
Whately, referencing issues with the UK welfare system, said young people are getting “cash handouts” in Personal Independence Payments (PIP), a tax-free benefit people above 16 and up to State Pension age can claim for long-term physical or mental health conditions, which she said “in theory” people can work alongside claiming.
“In theory, many people really worry about taking up a job, or even taking up training, as they think they’re going to lose their benefits,” Whately said. “The reality is, the welfare system is deterring people from working who would be better off in every sense of the word to be working.”
When asked whether she thinks young people are “too soft”, the shadow work and pensions secretary said the jobs need to be there in the first place, but “we do need to send a strong message”.
Whately added young people need to be “speaking about what they can do, not what they can’t”.
The shadow Tory minister claimed many young people with conditions such as ADHD are being told “they should sign on as soon as they start school.”
“The welfare system is deterring people from working,” Whately said.
Healey looks to lower business costs of hiring young people
This follows City AM revealing on 14 October chancellor John Healey is drawing up measures to slash the cost of hiring under-25-year-olds at the Budget as the government looks to tackle the crisis of youth unemployment and ease pressures facing businesses
The move to tackle the number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neets) by reducing hiring costs is likely to feature in Healey’s statement on 28 October, sources told City AM.