Youth jobs guarantee launched to boost confidence and mental health of unemployed young adults
Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden promoted a new youth jobs guarantee in Nottingham, saying paid work can improve mental health for young people out of work.
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, toured Boots' Nottingham site where the first cohort of Labour's youth jobs guarantee scheme began six-month, taxpayer-paid roles for 18- to 21-year-olds. Participants, many of whom have been unemployed for one to four years, reported increased confidence and better daily routines, supporting McFadden’s view that work can mitigate the mental-health crisis among NEETs. He warned that prolonged inactivity harms young people’s wellbeing and urged a shift away from the current universal credit system’s “fit for work” versus “unfit for work” split.
The programme, also backed by Sainsbury’s 10,000 internships, targets 18- to 24-year-olds on universal credit for at least 18 months, with a goal of 90,000 subsidised placements across six pilot regions, expanding nationwide by November. Alan Milburn’s upcoming report warns NEET numbers could reach 1.25 million by 2030 without intervention. McFadden highlighted voluntary job-coach interviews as a recent welfare-reform step and called on more employers to join the “national cause” of reducing youth unemployment.
Why it matters
The scheme links paid work to better mental health, aiming to curb rising youth unemployment and NEET numbers.
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