Making Youth Employment Policy Work: Intergenerational Foundation response
A response by the Intergenerational Foundation to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Youth Employment calling for an effective youth employment policy to address the stark intergenerational divide in the economic consequences of COVID-19.
There is widespread evidence that young adults have been disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19, shedding light on the insecurity of many young people’s jobs before the pandemic hit.
We recognise that this means both that young people have disproportionately benefited from government support for affected jobs, and that they are disproportionately vulnerable to the withdrawal of such support, especially as they are the age group least able to cope with income reductions.
Skills training and apprenticeships must be central to guiding longer-term employment policy, and that improving both the quality and the quantity of such opportunities for young people is crucial if we are to prevent those most affected by the economic fallout of COVID-19 from slipping through the net.