The scale of youth unemployment is an “economic catastrophe and a moral failure”, Andy Burnham said as he pledged action to get young people off benefits and into work.
Almost a million 16 to 24-year-olds are neither earning nor learning and Mr Burnham said the Government has a “duty to do everything in its power” to make sure people who can work are in employment.
The Prime Minister’s intervention came as Press Association analysis revealed teenagers and young adults make up nearly one in three people who have recently started claiming disability benefit for anxiety disorders.
Writing in The Times, Mr Burnham said the state must provide a “safety net” but there had to be a “fundamental change in the way the Government and society support young people”.
“We face a choice. We either invest in the success of our young people or pay for failure through the benefits system,” he said.
“We cannot afford to do both. I choose the first.”
An estimated 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training (Neet) between April and June this year, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures, around one-in-eight people in that age group.
Mr Burnham said: “This is an economic catastrophe and a moral failure. And it must change.”
A review of the issue by former Cabinet minister Alan Milburn will be published next month and Mr Burnham said major changes will be needed.
Every young person will be guaranteed a “high-quality technical pathway, work placements, apprenticeships and the skills and experience they need to secure a good job” with “timely, high-quality mental health support” available.
But that will be matched by an “expectation that young people will take up the opportunities made available to them”, Mr Burnham said.
Former health secretary Alan Milburn is leading a Government review of the Neet crisis (Jeff Moore/PA)
PA Wire
Speaking to the Guardian, Mr Milburn suggested his report was likely to recommend cutting benefit spending in order to channel the money into supporting people back into work.
He said: “We’ve got to have a different conversation about the welfare system, it just isn’t working for young people.
“We need to redistribute money from the welfare system to more employment support if we are going to end the Neet crisis.”
Mr Milburn also called for employment, mental health and benefits support to be more integrated.
He said: “Over the medium term, it is entirely possible that you can reduce the benefits bill, but in order to do that, you’ve got to provide the support for young people.
“You’ve got to increase the opportunities that are available for young people and then provide the support for them to enable them to grab those opportunities.”
The Government will publish a series of “jobs plans” for key sectors over the course of the week, beginning with the professional services and construction industries.
The plans will see 22,400 apprenticeships a year made available by accountancy, legal services and consultancy firms for under-25s.
Construction firms have agreed to make another 40,000 placements available.
The Government hopes its jobs plans will help young people gain employment in Britain’s key industries identified by Labour’s industrial strategy.
Meanwhile, PA analysis of Department for Work and Pensions data showed there were 24,681 claimants of personal independence payment – known as Pip – in England and Wales at the end of July this year with a primary condition of anxiety disorder who had received the benefit for up to two years.
Some 7,403 of these people – 30% – were aged 16 to 24, according to analysis by the Press Association.
A further 5,445, or 22%, were aged 25 to 34, suggesting more than half of recent Pip claimants for anxiety disorders have yet to reach their mid-30s.
Pip is the main benefit paid to someone who has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, and is intended to help with associated extra living costs.
People can get Pip even if they are working, have savings or are getting other benefits and can start claiming from the age of 16.
The PIP system is being reviewed by social security and disability minister Sir Stephen Timms.
In a further sign of the difficulties facing British youth, the Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza warned of a “state of emergency”.
Middlesbrough, Hounslow and Bradford were been named as the hardest places for children to grow up in England, according to a landmark report by the Children’s Commissioner.
An overall score has been assigned to each area, with the rankings based on almost 100 metrics covering access to health and social care, education and housing, safety, opportunities to play and whether children have a voice in the decisions made by leaders.
Cheshire East, Merton and Surrey were identified as the least difficult places to grow up.