Quarter of a million unemployed young Britons are planning to NEVER get a job, survey shows

• 227,000 unemployed people aged 18-24 plan never to enter the labour market
• 30 per cent do not think they will ever be able to achieve their career aspirations
• Apprehension is highest in those not working and those with difficult early lives 
• Tory MP Craig MacKinlay said it ‘cannot be right’ for taxpayers to pay for it all

Almost a quarter of a million young people who are currently not working say they never plan to get a job, a survey has revealed.

The poll of 18 to 24-year-olds found that a staggering 227,000 youngsters currently out of a job or not studying claim they never intend to enter the labour market.

The research also found that almost a third (30 per cent) don’t think they will ever be able to achieve their career ambitions.

The apprehension is highest among those who are currently not working (35 per cent) and those who have faced difficulties in their early lives.

It was not made clear why so many young people say that they do not intend to find work.

The research, in which 5,000 young people were questioned, was carried out by educational organisation City and Guilds.

Almost a quarter of a million young people who are currently not working say they never plan to get a job, a survey has revealed. Tory MP Craig MacKinlay, pictured, said it ‘cannot be right’ that taxpayers could pay for a lifetime of support ‘for those not wishing to take the natural step into work and self-sufficiency’

Tory MP Craig MacKinlay said: ‘At a time of bouyant job opportunities it is truly worrying that many young people have switched themselves out of the jobs market, with many waiting for the “dream job” that may not arise. Entry into any job is the pathway to a better one.’

Mr MacKinlay added that it ‘cannot be right’ that taxpayers could pay for a lifetime of support ‘for those not wishing to take the natural step into work and self-sufficiency’.

The MP added: ‘Perhaps it is time that benefit sanctions were introduced with real bite.’ City and Guilds CEO Kirstie Donnelly said those young people who face ‘additional challenges’ are falling behind their peers.

She said: ‘High youth unemployment has been an issue for more than a decade and the pandemic was just another challenge heaped on to an already creaking system that makes it incredibly difficult for young people to convert their aspirations into good jobs.’

Two thirds (64 per cent) of young people said that it is not easy to get a good job, and nearly a third (29 per cent) said they have struggled to get interviews. [File image] 

Two thirds (64 per cent) of young people say that it is not easy to get a good job, and nearly a third (29 per cent) say they have struggled to get interviews.

Miss Donnelly added: ‘If we don’t open doors for young people from all backgrounds to enter the labour market, and invest in their skills, we are losing out on all of that talent and creativity.

‘If we don’t fix this now, we risk storing up more problems for generations to come, exacerbating productivity shortfalls and social inequalities.’

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