Inquiry to review rise in young people not working or studying
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l7elxrr7ko
Posted by m-1975
Inquiry to review rise in young people not working or studying
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l7elxrr7ko
Posted by m-1975
35 Comments
Uk is a hopeless market what do you expect, there is no support for creative arts and it’s development.
A few younger people I know have summed it up for me like this:
“Someone on minimum wage can’t afford to move out to start their own life. So even if you do get a job, you’re still stuck at home with your parents. So what’s the gain? If you’re already stuck at home, why not just relax and do your own thing instead of slaving away at some soulless job that won’t pay enough to start a life. And university is just a way to incur huge debt with no guarantee of a job. It’s all just pointless.”
Not saying I agree with them but the old arguments of ‘work hard and you’ll get a promotion and have a great life’ aren’t true any more.
One might think that the rise also correlates in the reduction of pay differential in hiring young people – and yes the decline in retail and hospitality positions overall.
Young people cant get jobs for love nor money because getting hired has become impossible, hope that helps
For some context here, I entered the workforce in 2006 and eneded up unemployed during the 2008 financial crisis and it remained that way for 18 months as nobody was hiring…… so from someone who has lived through one of our worst times I would say whats going on right now is equally bad, if not worse!
Young people are getting absolutely shafted and I feel so sorry for them, opportunities are way harder to come by right now. Employers all want the same thing, someone that is fully qualified and can hit the ground running. In house training has been gutted to the point where its like finding a unicorn when one pops up.
Whats the point in working anymore. Can’t afford anything working full time. Not saying benefits is the way to go but you might as well work as little as possible – just enough so you can afford to live and not an hour more
Don’t blame them. They can’t afford a home, they’ll be taxed for existing, so why not just do nothing, and then the state will provide for them?
Would you be motivated to find a job if your full time salary will be too low to afford rent, you will have no time to enjoy life, and your job will be replaced by AI in the near future anyway?
We’ve created an absolutely shit society. If I were a teenager right now, I’d feel pretty hopeless.
In China it’s called Tang ping. I’ll quote Wikipedia here.
“Tang ping (Chinese: 躺平; lit. ‘lying flat’) is a Chinese slang term that describes a personal rejection of societal pressures to overwork and over-achieve, such as in the 996 working hour system, which is often regarded as a rat race with ever diminishing returns. Tang ping means choosing to “lie down flat and get over the beatings” by adopting a “low-desire life.”
It’s a global phenomenon, basically kids are giving up because boomers have fucked the world beyond saving.
I guess it comes down to some young people thinking ‘why bother’. Education and entry level jobs should be a pathway to pay progression, as you gain experience, prove your worth and move up the chain, but the uplift for most ‘normal’ jobs just isn’t there any more. The middle is collapsing and the stereotypical lifestyle – semi detached house, estate car, two holidays a years, couple of kids – seems increasingly out of reach for a lot of people.
I would like to enter a little insight as a 29 year old. Spent my teens to early 20s working in hospitality. Bartender/ to chef to manager. The pay was abysmal at all stages and I was constantly overworked. I once done over 70hrs in one week. So when lockdown hit I finally took it as a chance to move on and better myself so I started to go back to college and go to university. Decided the rising demand of cyber security was the way to go whilst working and using student loans to pay for more certs. Finally graduated this year and guess what? No jobs in the industry. Too old for placements. also can’t get in as 1st line support as they prefer younger graduates. Not only that a lot of companies are trying AI now. So I’m up to my eyes in debt the restaurant I was last working just closed. To top it all off all none degree jobs e.g waiter, supermarkets, etc. are zero hour contracts. Got hired at one and worked 5 hours in two weeks.I have no idea what I’m personally going to do. I’ve worked my ass off for years and it just seems pointless. If it wasn’t for my kid I’d probably just off myself.
It’s AI and offshoring that have killed the need for expensive humans. Why train someone when ai can do it and if they can’t a fully trained worker in another country can do it for half the price.
When you tax people to work, and give people free money not to work, what do you think three results will be…
It is much harder for young people now than it was in 2000.
At risk of sounding like a grumpy old woman though there also seems to have been a big increase in expectations of what a decent life should be. In my 20’s me and my friends were struggling like hell living in shared mouldy run down flats, being screwed around by terrible bosses on 0 hours contracts, living off cheap packet noodles and a night out used to be all of us buying a pint of soft drink at the pub and taking it in turns to smuggle in the cheapest bottle of vodka we could find to top them up.
Being able to afford a landline phone and get dial up Internet was a huge deal and the first thing I did when I got my first ‘proper’ job with a salary. Most of us were well into our 30’s and a few steps up the career ladder before the house / car / holidays type life was possible. Nearly everyone who got there earlier had an inheritance from Grandparents or assistance from parents.
Young person here (25F). I am currently doing a masters degree. I graduated this year with a STEM undergrad and prior to that was working 16-30 hours a week in retail 2019-2022. When I worked in retail I tried really hard to make upward progression becoming a team leader, I was shot down very often. Told not to express my opinions or try to enact positive differences in the work environment because “people don’t like change”. I was told to stop being interfering, told I was too nice and spending too long with customers, chastised for doing my best to give people great service because I was not being a “team” player. Undermined and overruled by the management. A lot of things were wrong with that work place, but suffice to say my desire to go back into retail is very small.
I have studied incredibly hard and am now facing the reality that I will have to find employment again by next summer when my MSc ends… and there is nothing. I’ve turned into a miserable cynic because all roads lead to nothing. Everything available pays abysmally and can’t support any standard of living. Rent is supposed to be 1/3 of your pay check. Most places where I live are around 1500 a month which for minimum wage, is almost your ENTIRE salary. I’m tired, I’m 25 and I’m already tired… it’s sad and pointless.
Presumably young people aren’t working because the jobs are too well paid. Seems to be the view of some politicians at the moment anyway.
As a young person 18f there is literally no point in working there’s zero incentive because what’s the point of working a dead end minimum wage job and not being able to afford anything because half of it gets taxed. And even when you earn the median or above you still can’t live a comfortable life. We can’t afford anything and probably never will (a car, a house, children, holidays) so literally what’s the point??
Your don’t need a bloody inquiry, it’s blatantly obvious. Working buys you essentially nothing these days, young people can barely afford to live after working 8-10 hour days, 5 days a week and that’s if the ever even get a job in the current market.
Then on top of that you get taxed to high heavens (and soon to be more) by one incompetent government after another and you’re not likely to ever get anything to show for it.
I don’t like people hoovering up benefits, but if I was in their position I’d 100% be doing the same, becuase im not wasting 50% of my waking hours working a job I hate to barely scrape by when I could just take a benefit and not have to worry about losing my job or whatever else on top of everything else to be in pretty much the same scenario as if I was working.
The system is so so so broken.
I’ll always find the job centre funny, when I was unemployed and visiting them. I actually applied for them, my work coach was the one who helped with the cv and still got rejected. Then left them and they harassed me for a good few months
‘Some 80% of young people on the UC Health element currently cite mental health reasons or a neurodevelopmental condition’. This is concerning. I am glad they are looking into.
It now costs employers significantly more to employ a young person and it will soon cost the same to employ a young person woth no experience as it would to employ someone else who has already proven their way. There is reduced incentive to employ younger people.
Atop of that businesses are faced with hiked NI, lower purchasing and rules that force employers into difficult positions from day 1 of employment if things dont work out. All of this whilst AI marches forwards.
As a small business (of which type employ a huge amount of people across the country) there is just not the demand for workers and younger people are the first to be impacted.
Sky high energy bills and rent that working 40 hours a week isn’t going to cover doesn’t help
Yep. What’s the point. Was assessed as not fit for work on UC a few years ago. The amount of benefits I received was not far off what I get now in a civil service adjacent role. I got a first class degree at university, and now make as much as I would if I just stayed working in a shop.
I chose to go back into work (to the detriment of my health) with the goal of becoming a homeowner. If you live somewhere where thats not a realistic goal, then genuinely, what is the point of trying. Wages are disgustingly low.
Maybe if government after government hadn’t done everything they could to pander to bitter pensioners by making life as difficult for young people as they could, then young people would still have some incentive to buy into the social contract and contribute with the realistic hope that they’d get something back in return.
I hate how judgemental people are on this subject. I graduated in autumn 2023 and got a job in my field in January 2024 (I got a bit lucky I guess right place right time). I have several friends I graduated with who can’t find a job and they are trying so hard. They are going to interviews around the country several times a week. Sometimes they get on the reserve lists but most of the time employers just ghost them. They have even gone to workshops to improve interview skills, to help you stand out but this still hasn’t worked.
The media act as if young people are lazy and not trying. NOBODY wants to be “scrounging” around everyone i graduated with really wants to work and is hoping and praying for a job opportunity.
Some very very wet takes on here, especially from those who are “older” – I hope your children find better role models in their lives
All they need to do is walk into the job centre or go talk to young people themselves. I’m surprised we even need an inquiry into something like this.
Can’t the government workers and MP who’ve requested this do their job instead of looking at a report for once in their lives.
Someone on minimum wage gets taxed around 40% of their income if you include vat etc. the government spouts all this nonsense like needing money for essential services yet they are so up to the neck in debt that they struggle to even pay the interest. It will get progressively worse until the whole system explodes imo. Adults are still living with their parents but that will be a luxury when we start to see families families in HMOs
The government or DWP does not have the political will to provide meaningful change or implement the recommendations this inquiry will provide.
There’s already one solution they would not commit to which is offering accredited certifications and trainings. The DWP will offer whatever resources are necessary to complete a job offer, but a person is not likely to receive that job offer without already having the certification/ training.
After finishing high school, I looked for various low paying jobs but struggled in applying due to crippling social anxiety.
I had some therapy sessions to deal with this and started volunteering in the meantime. I truly felt motivated to get out there and start earning a wage- unfortunately I was diagnosed with cancer and had to start what turned out to be years of delibitating treatment. (I’m still recovering, but i’m not well enough to be out and about for more than a couple of hours)
I’m really worried that the social anxiety and cancer have annihilated my chances of getting a decent job, but i’m also really thankful that my parents have been taking care of me- not a lot of people get that kind of chance.
Hmm…. it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. You can work 40+ hours a week and still barely scrape by, there’s no incentive to work or get yourself into a lifetime of debt to study just to struggle to get a job anyway and barely get paid a good wage even with a degree. You can do everything right And still end up struggling and mentally and physically exhausted just trying to survive. My cousin has a degree and worked throughout college and uni and still is struggling to get interviews for jobs this past year since she left uni. The whole system is broken.
I’m the job guy in my network. Friends and family come to me whenever they have any young person looking for help with getting a job, because I struggled with it in the past, learnt from my mistakes, and then had a good run of a few years where I did really well and passed dozens of interviews using my techniques.
Over the last few years I’d say I’ve helped 15-20+ people enter the workforce, or switch onto a career ladder they’re looking to get onto.
This last year in particular has been horrendously difficult. It’s taken so much more effort than usual just to get 3 people into jobs and careers they were pursuing, and as much effort for the other 4 or so who haven’t had any success. My usual routine of CV prep, candidate prep, interview prep just isn’t working like it used to, and I don’t think that my approach has become suddenly outdated overnight.
The jobs market is so rough for younger candidates at the moment. Companies just aren’t willing to take risks on those who don’t have the connections to get summer internships at daddy’s workplace.
AI has taken over many jobs. I think there are fewer jobs available. Or too many seasonal jobs.
They’ll investigate it and then blame young people.