Youth Unemployment
Have you ever typed the word ‘refugee’ into Google?
Take a moment out of scrolling
down Facebook’s newsfeed and please try it. If you take a look at the results
you will find 43,400,000 results discussing refugee events, facts and figures,
the thousands of organisations that provide support, advocacy and guidance for refugees
in the UK
Yet if you take a moment to ‘British
people’ into Google, what you will be pleased to see (excuse my sarcasm) is a
number of stereotypical links that expose benefit dependency cultures – words
such as ‘boozy, lazy, ignorant’.
Is it not surprising to find that
there is more support out there for individuals from Syria, Afghanistan,
Eretria and Somalia rather than support our very own British Citizens?
And for youth unemployment in
Birmingham - zilch.
‘19 per cent, of 16 to 25-year-olds had
experienced mental health issues because of unemployment’, between me and you I
am surprised that this figure is not significantly greater.
But what is being done to restore
confidence and trust in the youth of today
Within my role I have come across
one young people’s initiatives within
my local area, and that is within the space of 1 year. To make it that bit
harder, to be considered for government initiatives, the eligibility criteria
states that you must be claiming Job Seekers Allowance. I put forward this –
why is welfare dependency promoted? Government intervention seems to normalize
and incentivise relying on welfare, consequently broadcasting social norms through
to future generations.
On 27th November 2011
The Work Program was initiated in the hope of offering ‘personalised support
for claimants who need more help looking for and staying in work’.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Iain Duncan Smith stated that “In the past, many people in our society were
written off and trapped in unemployment and welfare dependency. But through our
welfare reforms, we are helping people to break that cycle and get back into
work”.
JSA claimants are expected from
my experience to work for one month, full time, without pay. Whether claimants are
trained adequately is questionable, with the fear of facing a sanction if they
do not attend, and the possibility of further poverty, conflicts with this idea
of the work program being personalised.
In October 2009 a new scheme was introduced it was named the
Future Jobs Fund, it was aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds in
receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance. It incorporated
the following:
- Each job had to be at least 25 hours per week;
- Jobs had to be paid at least at the minimum
wage;
- the
work had to benefit local communities.
But in 2010 the
Government scrapped the Future Jobs Fund, stating that it would save £320
million by ending certain elements of employment programs, including the further provision of jobs.
Thus, proving that youth unemployment plays no true part in
the governments strategies.
Although The General Secretary,
Frances O'Grady argued that "Ministers should know better than to try and
spin the Work Program as a huge success. Nearly two years on, and only one in
ten people has found proper work through the scheme”. This quote is unquestionably more realistic
Whilst I have been fortunate with
finding employment, I can only empathise with 16 – 25 year old’s suffering from
unemployment, as it seems to be that the government have placed their
priorities elsewhere.
A lot of my readers may be able
to relate to; opening up your laptop, searching for jobs, filling in
applications forms, and having to repeat the same dreary questions – what is
your biggest achievement? What are your strengths? With nothing to do all day
but to continue with the same procedure over and over again.
Before you know it, its 8PM, and
to finish for the day you decide to log in to check your inbox in the hope that
maybe one out of the 20 job
applications may lead to positive news. But instead the optimism that you once had
is neglected much like the promises made by your government
Should you wish to discuss this
further, or simply post your opinion or experience of unemployment please feel
free to comment below.
If you have any questions, please
post and I will try my best to answer.
Hope you enjoyed my most recent
blog, and continue to stay up to date via my Facebook page.
Thank you.
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