Youth Unemployment 

Youth unemployment is a growing issue in developing economies, and remains high relative to the rest of the population. 

According to the Office of National Statistics, in December 2020, 515,900 young people aged 18-24 in the UK were claiming unemployment related benefits. This represented just under a third of total unemployment benefit claimants. 

Long-term youth unemployment has been linked to consistently low wages, poorer health conditions and further periods of unemployment, later in life. According to Youth Unemployment UK, the wider social and economic impacts of long-term youth unemployment could cost the government £28 billion over the 2020s. 

Youth unemployment in the UK fell from 14.7% in December 2019, to 11.2% in December 2021. 

Compared with rates across the European Union, from September-November 2020, the UK’s youth unemployment rate lay on par with Latvia and Bulgaria (at approximately 14%), Germany recorded the lowest youth unemployment rate of 7%, followed by the Czech Republic at 9%. Spain experienced the highest levels of youth unemployment (40%) followed by Greece (36%) and Italy (32%).