Photo: Labour Party UK

Original article

Liam Byrne MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to an OECD report which shows young people in the UK spend almost two and a half years out of work, longer than in many of our competitors, said:

“A jobless generation is paying the price for this Government’s failure to get young people into work.

“Young people in the UK spend almost two-and-a-half years out of work on average – more than double those of our competitors and over 30 per cent more than in Germany and Australia.

Original article published on The Guardian

Forget talk of the 'burden' of government debt on future generations. Look at how austerity scars young people now

Austerians, as supporters of fiscal austerity have become known, frequently bemoan the hefty burden on future generations of the debts run up by spendthrift governments in battling the banking collapse.

But a salutary report from the International Labour Organisation last week suggested that today's generation of young people is already bearing more than its fair share of the costs of the crisis.

"At last - a glimmer of hope for Britain's lost youth," said Glenis Willmott MEP, Leader of Labour MEPs, on hearing today's news that an EU-wide ‘youth guarantee’ was agreed by government ministers at the Employment and Social Affairs Council (EPSCO).