Youth organisations call for 'civic army' to boost unemployment
Fiona Simpson
Friday, May 29, 2020
A coalition of youth work groups is calling on the government to launch a new scheme offering disadvantaged young people paid placements working in their communities to plug the youth unemployment gap.
Under-25s, who research has suggested are most at risk of losing work or access to training, should also be supported to engage with or remain in higher education following the Covid-19 pandemic, plans put forward by the UPP Foundation and a coalition of leading school trusts and charities say.
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The plans laid out by the coalition, which includes Ark, Reach Academy, the Access Project, Bridge Group, Brightside, IntoUniversity, and the Centre for Education and Youth, would see the government to fund a Community Leadership Academy scheme at a cost of around £500m-a-year.
It would offer 75,000 placements to young people around the country in partnership with universities, charities, local government and social enterprises.
Partner organisations would employ young people for a six month period to carry out civic work, during the period of a softer labour market, while giving them 20 per cent off-the job support for their own development, the coalition says.
It would either be open to young people who have left education and are not in work or training, who would be employed full time, or current higher education students, who could participate part time, the plans state.
They add that any student who was previously eligible for the Pupil Premium between the ages of 11 and 16 would be eligible to apply for the academy.
The coalition is also calling for the government to temporarily increase the Pupil Premium throughout the next academic year, and to extend it to young people aged 16 to 18 who remain in schools and colleges.
The funding should be used to offer wraparound services for the young people to support including catch-up support within their education or mental health support.
A recent report by a separate group of youth organisations specialising in youth unemployment and training states that: “Independent researchers believe five years of jobs growth has been wiped out in one month, while the number of vacancies available for those out-of-work has slumped to its lowest since the mid-1990s.”
Young people along with women and the lowest paid have been hardest hit by the downturn, the report warns, as it calls on the government to create a £1bn youth guarantee and commit urgent investment in education and back-to-work support.
Richard Brabner, director of the UPP Foundation, said: “The renewed civic action inspired by this crisis should be seized upon to help overcome them. Up and down the country, we’ve seen a swell of local community support to help the NHS and vulnerable people. By funding a civic army of 75,000 young people, we could utilise this community endeavour to empower and pay them to support their local areas - ‘levelling up’ disadvantaged young people and communities alike.”