Facing continually high youth unemployment the United Kingdom’s government has devised an intensive training program to teach employment skills to young people between the ages of 18 and 21. Under the new scheme, which is set to be implemented in April of 2017, youths will have to look for jobs and/or gain work experience, or else would lose their benefits.
The youth plan is being pushed by the Conservative Party, which currently controls the United Kingdom’s parliament. Supporters of the plan claim that they are not trying to cut benefits to youths, and that so long as youths meet the laid-out requirements their benefits will not be cut.
Conservative leaders claim the skills-training program will help young people gain valuable skills and will encourage them to find employment rather than sit on welfare benefits. Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock, a Conservative, went as far as to claim that many youths are part of a “welfare culture.”
Critics argue that it is a punitive program meant to punish young people and to prevent them from securing benefits from the UK’s generous social safety net. Members of the center-left Labor Party have suggested that the Conservative Party is pointing the finger needless at young people, rather than addressing the real problems.
Youth unemployment in the United Kingdom is still historically high despite the nation’s improving economy. Youths are three times more likely to be unemployed. The UK’s overall unemployment rate comes in at 5.7 percent, while youth unemployment has reached 14.4 percent.
