At a parliamentary event on the issue, hosted by the 99% Campaign last week, Loughton said youth unemployment and the range of skills wasted as a result is creating considerable financial problems for the country.
He said: “I think it [youth unemployment] is probably the biggest challenge – economically – that this country has.
“If you don’t sort out people getting into work, decent training, decent apprenticeships, getting the chance to get on that ladder of your career early on, then it’s a false economy not to do so because the financial problems it creates for society is considerable – but the social cost is probably even more.”
Loughton believes that improving the educational outcomes of children and young people is key to tackling youth unemployment and transforming youth job prospects.
He said: “The most important thing is to improve the educational outcomes of young people living in this country.
“Education isn’t something that just starts at GCSE when you get to secondary school.
“We know that if you don’t help young people and kids from deprived areas by the time they start primary school then they are instantly at a disadvantage and that’s why I think it’s really important that the government is continuing to do the pupil premium – extended to the early years as well – so that these people that come from less well-off backgrounds, destined on the statistics to fall behind, get that extra support.”
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show there was a five per cent drop in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds unemployed between October and December last year.
The 99% Campaign is a youth-led initiative designed to dispel negative stereotypes of young people and promote their involvement in policymaking.
