Government to fund half of salaries under party’s proposal
The Green party have proposed a youth jobs guarantee at their conference in Brighton. Delegates heard from deputy leader Mothin Ali, who said that in power the Greens would launch a scheme ‘providing a guaranteed job for every 18 to 24 year old lasting up to two years’. The proposed scheme would see young people offered posts in the private sector within four months of leaving education or training. The government would pay half of the salary costs for these roles, but with the expectation that this would lead to savings in welfare payments and higher tax receipts. Figures provided by the party suggest that over a lifetime a person not in work, education or training costs the state an estimated £240,000. Mr Ali said an initial pilot scheme would be rolled out in a number of areas with the fewest job openings for young people, and would be expected to create 9000 jobs at a cost of £110 million. In his speech, Mr Ali argued that there are up to a million ‘bored, desperate and lost’ young people who are out of work, training or education. He also criticised the government’s own proposals for a youth work scheme, which could see young people stripped of benefits such as universal credit if they refuse to participate. ‘Threatening young people with cuts to universal credit if they don’t accept short-term work placements – that’s not a youth strategy’, he told delegates.
The Green party proposal adds to a theme across this year’s party conferences of policy ideas being brought forward to reduce the number of young people who are NEET (not in employment, education or training). The topic is likely to come into focus again later this autumn when the final report of the Milburn review into young people and work is published.