Huge rise in those not in employment, education or training
New figures show there is a record number of young people who are neither employed, training or in education, (Neets) reports the Guardian.
The figures released by the Conservatives show that there are 857,000 people aged 16-24 who are classed are Neets. The figure was 629,000 in 2000, and there are nearly 140,000 more women than men in this situation.
The Conservatives believed the recession was to blame, as well as cuts to funding for apprenticeships and schools and colleges.
David Willetts the shadow universities secretary said:”If we had predicted in 1997 that youth unemployment and disengagement would have increased under Labour no one would have believed us.But the reality is that even in the boom years these problems were allowed to get worse.”