What does a Tory majority mean for young Britain?

The Conservatives may have secured a majority in parliament, but they fell far short of winning the hearts, minds, or votes of Britain’s young people on May 7. Ipsos-Mori estimates that only 27% of 18-34 year olds ticked the Tory box on their ballots, compared to 47% of over-65s.

It’s small wonder why. The Tories bet the farm on their “long-term economic plan” appealing to older voters concerned their income and assets would be at risk under a Labour government, but it was a gambit that failed to play with Britain’s young people. After all, what had the coalition government’s economic plan won for them?

Those aged 18-24 are still almost three times more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population. The explosion in house prices, exacerbated by a profound failure to build new homes in anything like the quantity necessary, now means the average age of home ownership is 36.  Education maintenance allowance has been taken away, job security is lower, working tax credits slashed, and as for tuition fees…well, Nick Clegg’s not the only one who’s sorry about that one: tens of thousands of students are, too.

As a young worker myself a Tory majority government feels like it will mean another five years’ slog for those yet to reach their quarter century. Their manifesto lays it all out in black and white.

The Young Fabians will be hosting a debate at tomorrow’s Fabian Summer Conference to find out just what a Tory majority means for young Britain. Below are some of the dangers on the horizon I hope will be discussed. 

First, the Tories promise to hit young people where it hurts- their wallets. A further two year freeze to working tax credits and the threatened abolishment of housing benefit for 18-21 year olds will dent the incomes and independence of low-paid, vulnerable groups of young people. Let’s not forget that many of those who claim housing benefit in their teens are often doing so because they have nowhere else to go, or are fleeing domestic violence.

Next, their job prospects. The Tories have done well in stealing Labour’s clothes with their pledge to deliver three million new apprenticeships, but the 2.2 million they say they created over the last five years don’t tell the whole story. As Full Fact report, apprenticeship starts for the under 19s have increased by a mere 3% since 2010, and a large chunk of starts – four in ten, in fact – have been by those aged 25 and over.  The young unemployed will also soon be funnelled into new work-for-welfare schemes, performing community work in exchange for benefits. Sounds familiar? That’s because it’s a rehash of the coalition’s much-derided workfare scheme, which was found to be “worse than doing nothing” at getting the long-term unemployed, and young unemployed, into sustainable jobs.

Finally, their futures. The FT reported earlier this year that young people are likely to remain disadvantaged compared to older generations because of the increasing inaccessibility of the housing market to first time buyers. This means that fewer young people will acquire the security of a home and an asset they can use to pay for a comfortable retirement at the end of their working lives. The Tory solution? A help-to-buy ISA that promises to inflate house prices and will cost the government £2.1 billion over five years – money that could be spent on 69,000 affordable homes, according to the National Housing Federation.

Liz Kendall, one of Labour’s leadership candidates, summed up the ambitions of Britons as “something to do, somewhere to live, [and] something to look forward to.” Under the Tories, none of these ambitions appear realisable for young people.

Louie Woodall is a member of the Young Fabians executive committee

Sign up to attend the Young Fabians debate: ‘What does a Tory majority mean for young Britain?’ here