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Rotherham is the worst place to be a young person looking for a job, according to a new survey of UK vacancies.
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Rotherham → see → vacancies
With just 46 opportunities per 1,000 young people, the town's bleak outlook demonstrates one of the reasons a million British young people are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET).
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people → demonstrate → education
A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggests young people face a stark postcode lottery.
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people → suggest → lottery
It also identifies some of the factors that have left young people three times as likely to be unemployed as the wider workforce - including the struggles of certain sectors and older people working for longer.
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that → identify → longer
The findings come as former minister Alan Milburn is preparing a government-backed report into the issue, that will include recommendations for getting more youngsters working.
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youngsters → come → recommendations
Analysis showed that nine out of the ten places with the most vacancies are in the south of England, while four of the worst areas are in the Midlands.
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four → show → Midlands
Those areas with the highest number of opportunities have roughly six times more vacancies per young person that those with the least.
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areas → have → least
Rotherham (pictured) was revealed to have the fewest job opportunities for young people anywhere in the country
Cities well below the national average of 109 vacancies per 1,000 young people include Sheffield, with just 60, Coventry with 62, and Newcastle and Birmingham - both with 65.
Meanwhile, the Cotswolds has the most relative opportunities, with 288 per 1,000, followed by Woking in Surrey and Gloucester - right next to the Cotswolds.
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Cotswolds → picture → Cotswolds
The IPPR suggested that slowing hospitality, leisure and retail sectors may be responsible for the high NEET figures, because they typically hire lots of younger people - often giving employees their first job.
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they → suggest → job
It specifically cited Labour's increase to minimum wage and employer national insurance as making it more expensive to employ people, hence many businesses in the above sectors have cut back.
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businesses → cite → sectors
Another suggestion was that older people are staying in work for longer, beyond the state pension age, meaning less space is being opened up to be filled by younger workers.
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space → stay → workers
Finally, they said Artificial Intelligence (AI) may already be having an effect on employment statistics by wearing away the 'first rung' of the job ladder, by performing menial tasks much more cheaply than young workers.
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Intelligence → say → workers
The report also offered up some solutions, and called for the government and the Milburn Review to act on them.
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government → offer → them
Its authors want to see jobs funded by a 'Work Start' programme specifically targeting areas with too few opportunities.
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jobs → want → opportunities
They also want a reform of the apprenticeship system, which they say is has been 'majorly failing' to lift young people out of NEET.
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is → want → NEET
Finally, they want ministers to stop Universal Credit (UC) for young people, and instead provide a new youth allowance.
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ministers → want → allowance
The report points out the current Jobcentre Plus system is organised around those receiving UC, yet around half of young people who are NEET do not receive it.
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who → point → it
Lord David Blunkett, former secretary of state for education and employment, said: 'Young people have an immense amount to give.
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people → say → amount
'With national ambition, local leadership and the willingness to invest, we can ensure that birthplace does not determine a young person's future.'
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birthplace → invest → future
Lord Jim Knight, former minister for employment and minister for schools, said: 'IPPR's report dispels the myth that nearly a million young people are out of work because they lack aspiration.
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they → say → aspiration
Young people in Rotherham are not six times less talented than those in the Cotswolds; they face six times fewer suitable vacancies.'
There were 981,000 NEETs in the April to June this year, according to the latest estimate from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), after peaking at over a million in the first quarter.
Concerningly, around two-thirds of the recent increase has been generated by those who are no longer looking for work.
The recent figure is up 30,000 from when Labour took power - which has been interpreted as evidence its decision to impose employer National Insurance hikes and steep minimum wage rises is backfiring.
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decision → face → hikes
Business groups say the introduction of a raft of new workers' rights over the coming months will further deter them from hiring.
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introduction → say → them
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to make the youth unemployment crisis a 'top priority' and said it 'has been ignored for too long'.
Former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn is preparing a government-backed report into the issue.
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Milburn → vow → issue
He said: 'Nearly one million young lives on hold is a scar on this country.
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lives → say → country
But he signalled last week that the plan will not save any money before the end of the decade.
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plan → signal → decade
On a visit to the Netherlands, where the NEET rate is a quarter of the UK's, he said it would not be possible to get to their level 'in two or three years'.
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it → say → years
'It just can't,' he added, when asked if the cuts would help balance the budget by 2030.
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cuts → add → 2030
He also floated an idea likely to win support from devolution-supporter Andy Burnham – allowing regional mayors to keep and reinvest money saved from the welfare bill locally where they have helped to get people back into work.
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people → float → work
'If we're going to put in more support for young people... of course we're going to have to invest behind that.
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we → go → that
That absolutely has to happen,' he told the Financial Times.
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he → have → Times
Joining Mr Milburn in the Netherlands was Gareth Southgate, who added to warnings about the snowballing consequences of unemployment for young people.
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who → join → people
He said that avoiding the office was damaging for young people because they miss out on opportunities to learn from colleagues or receive support when they face difficulties.
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they → say → difficulties
Delivering his interim report earlier this year, Mr Milburn said young people were being 'abandoned' to a life on welfare.
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people → deliver → welfare
He said the system currently presents a 'perverse choice', with young people incentivised to take health benefits because they can offer 'higher income, less hassle and lower risk' than work.
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they → say → work
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