Bad jobs or benefits? Milburn should force employers to help the young | Richard Partington

A landmark review is set to call for benefit cuts but also highlight the lack of entry-level jobs as a driving force behind Britain's youth job crisis. Nearly a million young people are not in education, employment or training (Neet), suffering from jobseeking stress and desperation. The root of the problem lies in austerity, the Covid pandemic, AI upending the jobs market, soaring living costs, and a decline in entry-level jobs over the past two decades.

With a sixfold gap in opportunity between Rotherham and the Cotswolds, corporate Britain is set to showcase its efforts in response to Alan Milburn's report. However, most employers are not doing enough to help young jobseekers. Almost half of under-25s surveyed by Youth Employment UK think employers are unsupportive, while stories of job applications being black-holed and the catch-22 of companies demanding experience for entry-level roles are common.

Low-paid, insecure jobs are widespread, particularly in regions with the highest Neet rates. In-work poverty has increased over the past 25 years, with the relative poverty rate among working households rising from 13% in the mid-1990s to almost 18% now. Job satisfaction among young people is at its lowest recorded level. Many young jobseekers find themselves in insecure work, often ending up unemployed again within weeks.

More than one in 10 are on zero-hours contracts, and despite the gig economy boom, Britain's Neet rate has only fallen below 10% once. Bad jobs and a lack of entry-level opportunities are far bigger factors in Britain's youth jobs crisis than the generosity of the benefits system.