Youth Unemployment
Discussion
" For someone aged 18-20 working full-time on the minimum wage, the cost has increased from £15,652 in 2024 to £18,200 in 2025 to £19,747 in 2026. This is a two-year increase of 26%, or £4,095.
For apprentices, the increase is from £11,648 to £13,741 in 2025 and £14,560 in 2026, also a two-year increase of 25%, and a cost of £2,912.
Even worse, much of this increase in cost is going not to the workers but to the Government. Those aged 21 and over will keep just half of the increase in labour costs via the higher minimum wage: the rest is taken in taxes."
If you were an employer would you risk an 18 year old with no track record when there is little extra cost employing a more experienced worker?
https://capx.co/labour-are-pricing-young-people-ou...
For apprentices, the increase is from £11,648 to £13,741 in 2025 and £14,560 in 2026, also a two-year increase of 25%, and a cost of £2,912.
Even worse, much of this increase in cost is going not to the workers but to the Government. Those aged 21 and over will keep just half of the increase in labour costs via the higher minimum wage: the rest is taken in taxes."
If you were an employer would you risk an 18 year old with no track record when there is little extra cost employing a more experienced worker?
https://capx.co/labour-are-pricing-young-people-ou...
Yes, it doesn’t make sense to me. Most working 18 year olds will be living at home with parents and/or in further education. People get married and start families much later than was the case in the past, so the arguments around dependants are not particularly valid.
Logically a minimum wage should kick in at around age 25 to give employers an incentive to take on young people. There is also an argument that certain other aspects of employment law should be different for young employees.
That being said, I think the youth unemployment situation is quite area dependent. Neither of my children has had any problems finding various jobs paying a bit above the minimum wage during University holidays, and my newly qualified son now has a permanent job despite telling his employers it would just be a stop gap whilst applying for graduate trainee positions.
Logically a minimum wage should kick in at around age 25 to give employers an incentive to take on young people. There is also an argument that certain other aspects of employment law should be different for young employees.
That being said, I think the youth unemployment situation is quite area dependent. Neither of my children has had any problems finding various jobs paying a bit above the minimum wage during University holidays, and my newly qualified son now has a permanent job despite telling his employers it would just be a stop gap whilst applying for graduate trainee positions.
We took on a graduate this summer for an entry level admin role, the cost is around £30k all in with minimum wage and NI. Similar % increases on wage costs to pre 2024. Along with the new employee rights legislation it has been a calculated risk we decided to make on this occasion and seems to be working out ok. It’s a shame that labour have done what they have because we would be taking on at least 2 or 3 more speculative young people to give them a go in the business, but no chance now. Now its recruitment freeze, AI for efficiency gains then AI to reduce long term headcount. The NI hit has also been quite severe and the added cost on the P&L has also stopped more recruiting generally. Anyone who cheers on this government are beyond deluded.
I started work in 1983. My starting salary that year was £3,500 which was pretty typical at that time. If you take the £19,747 figure and track that back, the comparative equivalent is £4,337. So in real terms, we're not that much further on than we were 40 years ago.
I run a small specialist communication agency. For me to hire someone with, say ten years experience I am today looking at a total cost that exceeds £50k per person. That includes salary, employer's NI contribution, overheads, etc.
Alongside my day-job, I do T-Level training and work with 16-17 year old kids. Some of these kids leave college with exceptional skills and often end up teaching me more than I teach them. I can take two of them on for less than it would cost me someone with experience. I can continue their education by putting them to work in a real-world situation. As their productivity increases, the company becomes more profitable which enables me to increase their salaries incrementally and in parallel to the growth of the business. This reduces risk which is the primary objective of any business owner.
Different businesses will have different views but for me, decisions as to whether or not to employ young people are influenced by a great many things; National Living Wage / Minimum Wage is not one of them.
irc said:
If you were an employer would you risk an 18 year old with no track record when there is little extra cost employing a more experienced worker?
I am an employer and is something I would do and am actively looking at. I run a small specialist communication agency. For me to hire someone with, say ten years experience I am today looking at a total cost that exceeds £50k per person. That includes salary, employer's NI contribution, overheads, etc.
Alongside my day-job, I do T-Level training and work with 16-17 year old kids. Some of these kids leave college with exceptional skills and often end up teaching me more than I teach them. I can take two of them on for less than it would cost me someone with experience. I can continue their education by putting them to work in a real-world situation. As their productivity increases, the company becomes more profitable which enables me to increase their salaries incrementally and in parallel to the growth of the business. This reduces risk which is the primary objective of any business owner.
Different businesses will have different views but for me, decisions as to whether or not to employ young people are influenced by a great many things; National Living Wage / Minimum Wage is not one of them.
M1AGM said:
We took on a graduate this summer for an entry level admin role, the cost is around £30k all in with minimum wage and NI. Similar % increases on wage costs to pre 2024. Along with the new employee rights legislation it has been a calculated risk we decided to make on this occasion and seems to be working out ok. It s a shame that labour have done what they have because we would be taking on at least 2 or 3 more speculative young people to give them a go in the business, but no chance now. Now its recruitment freeze, AI for efficiency gains then AI to reduce long term headcount. The NI hit has also been quite severe and the added cost on the P&L has also stopped more recruiting generally. Anyone who cheers on this government are beyond deluded.
A graduate on minimum wage? As in a university graduate?snotrag said:
_Rodders_ said:
M1AGM said:
We took on a graduate this summer for an entry level admin role...
A graduate on minimum wage? As in a university graduate?In the real world a lot of young people are graduates. We dont stop graduates applying for roles so why would we not give one a job, or do you think it would be beneath them or something?
Eta you clearly have no idea how dire the youth jobs market is. We had a cambridge science graduate apply for the same job.
StevieBee said:
I started work in 1983. My starting salary that year was £3,500 which was pretty typical at that time. If you take the £19,747 figure and track that back, the comparative equivalent is £4,337. So in real terms, we're not that much further on than we were 40 years ago.
What was your job and what qualifications did you have? They had four kids (well early 20's) on newsnight last night and it really hit a nerve with me. They had applied for in region of 500 jobs between them. One had two degrees and a masters but no job. Another was trying to get into journalism and the presenter said to her: you're what, i'm guessing, 60-90k in debt? And she nods and says i just want to get a job so i can start paying off the debt. The pressure must be enormous and its utterly unfair on them IMO to saddle with debt at that level of interest.
I believe the universities are complicit at some level too. We've got kids studying courses that the uni's know full well will not result in a job because locally there are no jobs or are over saturated already, but happy to keep taking the money. Yes they're a business, but not exactly a fair business model is it as its heavily subsidised via the student debt scam.
They had the Reed recruitement boss on - he said the youth/entry level jobs are down 27% year on year but over a decade the picture is more like 80% down iirc.
He put it squarely down to increasing costs for employers.
For my own kids i want them to think long and hard as to whether university is worth it or IMO the better approach these days is try and get a job and get the employer to stump up time for the course and training etc.. id actually prefer they just go traveling and work in other countries as i did and build skills that way.
I believe the universities are complicit at some level too. We've got kids studying courses that the uni's know full well will not result in a job because locally there are no jobs or are over saturated already, but happy to keep taking the money. Yes they're a business, but not exactly a fair business model is it as its heavily subsidised via the student debt scam.
They had the Reed recruitement boss on - he said the youth/entry level jobs are down 27% year on year but over a decade the picture is more like 80% down iirc.
He put it squarely down to increasing costs for employers.
For my own kids i want them to think long and hard as to whether university is worth it or IMO the better approach these days is try and get a job and get the employer to stump up time for the course and training etc.. id actually prefer they just go traveling and work in other countries as i did and build skills that way.
The family restaurant has just stopped employing young teenagers completely. It was almost a rite of passage that local kids would work in some capacity at the restaurant for the past 50 years, but it no longer makes any financial sense to train and employ them vs an older worker. And that's not even taking into account that most have some type of 'mental illness' or 'anxiety' that prevents them working on busy shifts...
M1AGM said:
snotrag said:
_Rodders_ said:
M1AGM said:
We took on a graduate this summer for an entry level admin role...
A graduate on minimum wage? As in a university graduate?In the real world a lot of young people are graduates. We dont stop graduates applying for roles so why would we not give one a job, or do you think it would be beneath them or something?
Eta you clearly have no idea how dire the youth jobs market is. We had a cambridge science graduate apply for the same job.
snotrag said:
_Rodders_ said:
M1AGM said:
We took on a graduate this summer for an entry level admin role...
A graduate on minimum wage? As in a university graduate?With so many younger people having degrees the worth of them has diminished massively.
irc said:
_Rodders_ said:
How is half the increasing going in taxes?
Increased NI after the threshold was lowered.Education has become an industry in itself. Do they even care if anyone gets a job. Maybe you can get a job in education.
Build more schools for educator jobs. no pupils?. Get some foreigners in to fill the school or uni up.
At some stage someone has to produce something beyond just constant learning and pushing the fantasy we are some sort of no1 destination
for education ,which is just a cover story.
Build more schools for educator jobs. no pupils?. Get some foreigners in to fill the school or uni up.
At some stage someone has to produce something beyond just constant learning and pushing the fantasy we are some sort of no1 destination
for education ,which is just a cover story.
Spare tyre said:
We went shopping the other day, usual high street shops
No Saturday workers, all people who are new to the U.K.
I don't understand how we can have so many young NEETs while still importing people from overseas for minimum wage jobs.No Saturday workers, all people who are new to the U.K.
M1AGM said:
This again.
In the real world a lot of young people are graduates. We dont stop graduates applying for roles so why would we not give one a job, or do you think it would be beneath them or something?
Eta you clearly have no idea how dire the youth jobs market is. We had a cambridge science graduate apply for the same job.
I imagine there are plenty of graduates who believe that an entry-level admin role is beneath them. Fair play to those who face up to the harsh truth!In the real world a lot of young people are graduates. We dont stop graduates applying for roles so why would we not give one a job, or do you think it would be beneath them or something?
Eta you clearly have no idea how dire the youth jobs market is. We had a cambridge science graduate apply for the same job.
Over £30k to employ someone on minimum wage is a bit frightening...
StevieBee said:
I started work in 1983. My starting salary that year was £3,500 which was pretty typical at that time. If you take the £19,747 figure and track that back, the comparative equivalent is £4,337. So in real terms, we're not that much further on than we were 40 years ago.
That’s 24% feels a lot to me.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff