Last week, former Labour minister Alan Milburn published the first part of his independent review into Young People and Work. In it, he speaks to a dehumanising of society and a failure to consider the impact on human beings of economic and political changes.
He reports that nearly a million young people aged 16-24 in the UK today are not in education, employment or training. The acronym for this is ‘Neet’, and the causes are complex. Labour market changes, including the rise of AI, the increase in the minimum wage and government hikes in employer national insurance contributions are all contributing to a decline in the number of jobs available to those starting out in their careers.
Many young people are actively and vigorously looking for work. And they find it hugely demoralising to apply for hundreds of jobs, but never to hear back from the companies. Applications are increasingly sifted by software with no human interaction involved.
In addition, the Saturday job – a staple of the teenage years for many of my generation – is becoming a thing of the past, and removes a valuable source of early employment experience. But the report also emphasises that 60% of Neets are economically inactive – not looking for work at all. Ill-health is a primary driver here and, shockingly, one in five of all Neet young people report a mental health condition – double the figure for 2012. Poor mental health not only acts as a barrier to seeking work, it is also given as a reason by employers for not hiring young people, as they do not feel equipped to offer the right support to them.
The causes of mental ill-health are varied, with anxiety and depression as a major outcome, especially among girls. Covid still casts a shadow over a generation who experienced huge disruption to school, college and socialisation. In addition, we are better than ever at recognising neurodiversity among our young people but not yet very good at supporting them with its challenges.
And the turmoil of current events – climate change, wars, political instability – all contribute to what young people describe as a sense of nihilism and hopelessness at the state of the world; and a lack of confidence that their futures hold any promise. I’m reminded of Johnny Rotten singing ‘no future for me, future for you’ back in the heyday of punk in 1977. Then as now, parents are fearful and anxious about the environment that their children are trying to navigate.
Alan Milburn makes clear that all these factors combine to present the country with a huge structural challenge that, despite two decades of government intervention in education, health, welfare and the job market, now requires a “whole system reset”.
He calls it a moral crisis and emphasises that "behind every number ... is a young person whose life is being diminished."What can Christians do? We all know young people - in our families, at our churches, in our places of work. Let’s pray for them specifically as they embark on their adult lives.
Let’s also pray for wisdom for the government in tackling this challenge. Part two of the Milburn report will suggest some possible solutions, but we know that the wheels of government turn slowly, and that cross-departmental working is not always smooth or effective.
For these reasons, and because they are always looking to the next news headline or opinion poll, governments have a tendency to defer and delay longer term structural reforms. They involve difficult, often unpopular choices and the electorate is increasingly unforgiving. Addressing this issue will require politicians from all parties to set aside partisan interests and genuinely work together.
Finally, our churches have a wonderful message of hope to share with our young people. In today’s social media age many feel that their sense of self-worth is tied up with their online image, or engagement with the content they create. They are crushed by negative comments and many feel a lack of belonging or security.
They desperately need to know Jesus as the ultimate source of that belonging and security. They need to know that they are made in the image of God, that their worth is inherent and cannot be diminished. They need to know that the Creator of the universe loves them so much that he died for them, and that, in the words of 1 Peter 5:7, he invites them to “cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you”.
In a world of uncertainty and fear, this knowledge doesn’t make our challenges disappear. But it enables us, like the man in Jesus’s parable in Matthew 7, to build our house on the rock instead of the shifting sands. When the rain comes down, the streams rise and the winds blow and beat against us, we can be sure that we will not fall, because we have our foundation on the Rock.
Tim Farron has been the Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005 and served as the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party from 2015 to 2017. Tim is also the host of Premier’s ‘A Mucky Business’ podcast, which unpacks the murky world of politics and encourages believers around the UK to engage prayerfully. He is the author of A Mucky Business: Why Christians should get involved in politics."
