Friday, August 25, 2006

Youth Unemployment

HOW FAR HAVE WE COME?

Last week I was given a report written in 1984 by Strathclyde Regional Council, on the issue of working with young people, and I found some of it startling. As someone who grew up in the 1980's I remember the difficulties experienced by many of the people around us especially the mining communities. Part of the report states ...

'2.2 Youth Unemployment

2.2.1 Unfortunately, all thought about youth work is overshadowed by the spectre of mass unemployment which hangs over young people. There are areas within Strathclyde where the true level of unemployment for school leavers is approaching 100%, with the overall figure for Strathclyde being around 60%.'


I thought I would check it out to see how much of an improvement the Labour Government has made in this regard! The Scottish Executive have released figures that show that for young men the unemployment rate averages at 7.4% and for women it is 3.9%. From close to 60% to at most 14% (with those young men with minimal education) this is a startling achievement by the Labour Government and a damning indictment of the Conservatives. It shows the positive future for our young people under Labour.

The fact that many young people from deprived backgrounds now think that it is a natural progression to go from high school onto higher education shows how much of a difference a real education policy backed up by a higher level of funding than ever before can make to society and specifically to the future of our young people.

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