2 July 2012
Nick Clegg has cited the ACEVO report 'Youth unemployment - the crisis we cannot afford' in his latest speech on youth unemployment on Wednesday 27 June. The report, commissioned by ACEVO, contains research contributions from Professor Paul Gregg, Lindsey Macmillan and Jack Britton.
'Youth unemployment - the crisis we cannot afford' identifies hotspots across Britain where youth unemployment has reached emergency levels. In these 600 hot-spots, covering 152 local authority areas, the proportion of young people claiming Jobseekers Allowance is double the national average.
Nick Clegg said that he was "very much struck by another insight from David’s report: youth unemployment hot spots". He went on to add that the government "will be targeting these areas with renewed urgency. For a simple reason: these are the young people who are hardest to reach in the labour markets that are hardest to crack, and they cannot be made to wait. So, in these places we’re bringing the wage subsidy forward. Instead of coming in at nine months, it will come in at six. At this stage, three months can make all the difference".
The Commission, Chaired by David Miliband MP on behalf of ACEVO, the charity leaders body, makes practical recommendations on what can be done to make Government’s ambition of abolishing long-term youth unemployment achievable.
