The lost generation – who’s to blame?

By Sonny Leong

The number of “Neets” – young people not in education, employment or training – has risen to nearly a million in the UK. This has lead to endless column inches of media reporting that the Government has let these people down, and Britain faces losing a generation to unemployment, pushing up the UK’s youth joblessness rate to the highest in Europe. It’s a tragedy in the making and one that we absolutely cannot ignore.

So, who’s to blame, and how do we on the left respond?

Well, whilst I don’t think that the Government is blameless, after ten years their record is in fact impressive. Labour’s New Deal programmes have helped more than 1.8 million people back to work. Investment in programmes like Train to Gain, which pays for people to get training at work, has helped hundreds of thousands not just to get a job, but to get a qualification and get on. Add in the recently announced £1 billion Future Jobs Fund, to which local authorities and other organisations can bid to create around 150,000 new jobs, and the Government has a record to be proud of.

So who then is to blame for the rise in NEETs? Well, it may be unfashionable to say, but a large part of the responsibility has to lie at the feet of many young people themselves. They’ve never had it so good – access to education, access to training and access to apprenticeships to name but three. Young people in other countries would love to have a fraction of the opportunities our young people are entitled to in this country.

So why do so many young people here appear to take these opportunities for granted? Could it be that reality television, celebrity
culture and laddish behaviour have all contributed to a lack of self respect and self worth amongst our young people? Could it be that the eagerness and desperateness of being famous by appearing on reality shows, hanging around to be spotted with a ‘celebrity’ have become a means to an end? Could it be that for many young people this is their idea of ‘jobs worth’ and that they want it fast and easy? In my opinion, whilst clearly not the only reason, the answer has to be ‘to some extent, yes’, and any meaningful progressive response must start with accepting this.

The reality is that easy money, whether through credit or benefits, have diminished the value of earning and working hard for your money. The notion of waking up in the morning and going out to earn a living is alien to many families and young people.

Like many newly arrived immigrants who have made this country their home, my family did not depend on the state – we were too proud for that! We worked very hard, were law-abiding, persevered, paid our taxes and made a success of whatever we did.

Young people in India and China do not have the luxury of sitting around and waiting for their Governments to help them. They all have to make something of their lives by working and supporting themselves and their families. They have been taught to respect themselves and elders, hard work and law abiding. Perhaps we have something to learn from this.

I am not saying that we abandon the New Deal or Train to Gain. I am saying that the rise in the number of NEETS requires us to do more – to get a better balance of policy and approach. For instance, as a progressive nation we should celebrate entrepreneurship, owner-run business should be embraced and encouraged. This creates employment not only for the owners but is good for local communities. Job creation is faster and more work focussed helping young people develop skills, talents and self-confidence.

Young people should be encouraged to set up their own businesses to create their own employment. Let’s bring back the ‘can do’ spirit, and with hard work, perseverance and diligence these business will flourish and create more jobs.

The Government can help them by setting a National Youth Enterprise Scheme with support from local communities and regional development agencies. Initial working capital should be in a form of grants provided from the Future Jobs Fund with business mentoring made available to them.

These new businesses should be exempt from all taxes and national insurance to give them the cash flow required for them to get established.

We need to empower our young people with the knowledge that they can complete in the global environment by starting from scratch. If we fail to grasp this then we really do risk letting down a generation – what a waste. Get the balance right and we can critically help to define their destiny, self belief, confidence and worth.

As Bob the Builder says – Yes, we can!

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4. Hague: The lost children
5. Progress conference: Campaigning for the net generation