Commissioned by The Prince's Trust, The Cost of Exclusion finds that youth unemployment sets the UK back 90m a week in benefits and lost productivity; that youth crime costs more than 1bn a year in expenses to the criminal justice system, health services and damage to property; and that educational underachievement costs 18bn in lost earnings and other costs over the working life of a generation of young people.
The report concludes that "a massive effort to attract young people into the potential labour force is justified on economic grounds alone".
Martina Milburn, chief executive of The Prince's Trust, said that the figures in the report, which took a year to compile, were "conservative". She said: "We don't see this as alarmist."
She added that the charity hoped to use the report as a means to work with the Government. "The Government is doing quite a lot to combat youth exclusion but my plea is that it looks at the very good voluntary sector schemes and government schemes that are working, and how we can work in partnership."
Milburn said she felt "slightly nervous" about the majority of voluntary sector funding going through local area agreements: "We have to find some way of ensuring there is a national picture with communication about what is available and a robust funding package."
David Fenton, economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, which supports The Prince's Trust, said: "We live in an era of rapid globalisation where competition between countries is keener than ever, so it is crucial that the UK makes the most of the resources it has, and young people are a crucial resource."
- See Leader, p13
FINDINGS
- Youth unemployment costs the UK 10m a day in lost productivity
- Reducing youth unemployment by one percentage point would decrease property crime by one per cent, saving 2m
- Depression caused by underachievement at school could cost the NHS between 11m and 28m a year.
