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| Not So "Neet" |
| The spectre of a "lost generation" |
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John Patrick Boland (JohnBoland)  |
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Published 2009-10-28 14:28 (KST) |
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| This article is only lightly edited. <Editor's Note> |
"The number of 18- to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training will continue to rise. We know from the 1980s' recession that unemployment scars the lives of young people - so they need our support."
Susan Anderson, director of public services and skills policy at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
"We cannot afford to lose another generation of young people to unemployment and underachievement."
Trades Union Congress General Secretary Brendan Barber
Gordon Brown and his government should be growing increasingly ashamed of the legacy they are likely to leave for the British nation should they lose the next General Election, ending the New Labour experiment that first exploded into office in 1997. The platitudes and sound-bites that continue to echo from an increasingly forlorn administration are sounding ever more hollow as the reality of Britain's post-credit crunch economic woes continues to bite.
The Prime Minister and his Chancellor continue to plead with the population that they are doing everything possible to help the victims of the recession but positive and tangible change appears to be in short supply. Those experiencing real challenges as a result of the current economic climate are less likely to be the bankers and chattering classes that frequently make newspaper headlines and more likely to be those who are struggling to find a voice amidst the chaos. One such group is Britain's ever growing proportion of Neets.
Those who are currently "not in employment, education or training" secure their unfortunate status as a Neet. It must be an accolade that many of those to whom it applies to would like help shaking off. Official figures from the Government's Department for Children, Schools and Families indicated that 959,000 of the nation's 16- to 24-year-olds were classified as Neet by June 2009. According to the United Kingdom's 2001 census, the total 15- to 24-year-old population was about 7 million.
The number of Neets will inevitably rise at the next reporting point when it is anticipated that a large number of those who failed to secure a university place over summer 2009 will end up in a similar position to those already identified as a Neet.
It is hard to identify why there is such a dearth of opportunities but it could be argued that elements of the individualistic, share-holding society cultivated under Thatcher in the 1980s are still playing out their ugly hand in late 2009.
The drive for efficiency and maximizing profits has led to streamlined workforces across many sectors and industries - you just have to look at current news stories regarding British Airways and the Royal Mail to see that job-cutting rather than job creation remain the favored approach of many businesses.
Could an influx of migrant workers be a contributory factor? Immigration has become a very dirty word in British politics -- the very mention of it with regard to employment puts any commentator on shaky ground -- yet it is a matter of fact that where there are nearly a million Neets their number is matched by Eastern European workers that have been recruited by British employers in the last 4 years.
However, potential reasons for this development have less to do with any basic economic considerations and more to do with, according to the Department for Work and Pensions, the fact that British workers lack "basic employability skills, incentives and motivation."
If British youngsters are deemed to be ill-equipped for the challenges of working life in the 21st century, should there be some critical focus on where they need to gain the appropriate skills and motivation? The vagaries of the British education system and its myriad of parallel and equivalent qualifications as well as multitude of external influences would constitute an entire article in itself but for the purposes of this discussion it can certainly be acknowledged as a further contributory factor in shaping current woes for young people.
"Despite all the money that has been spent, standards are still woefully low in too many schools," Tesco chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy said. "There are too many agencies and bodies, often issuing reams of instructions to teachers, who then get distracted from the task at hand: teaching children."
In 2008, 40% of 16-year-olds failed final high school exams in math and 37% failed the same tests in English.
Responsibility is a key issue and it has to be considered that Britain's young people should take some ownership of their futures as well. The problems will eventually run much deeper than the immediate short term issue of having hundreds of thousands of 16- 24-year-olds idle.
Optimism and hope is being forever eroded on a daily basis. Worse, there is no statistical outlook that can convey the seriousness of the change in mindset of many of Britain's young people. A growing cynicism, lack of faith in government and authority structures, ever diminishing levels of aspiration and a sky-rocketing dependency on benefits and handouts are all contributing to the creation of a significant group of people who are starting to lack the desire to work and participate effectively within society.
Of course, the current ailing British government also has a role to play and it is a shame for society in general that all our leading politicians seem to be able to do is talk about how they believe things are improving at the same time that the ordinary man, woman or Neet on the street would paint a very different picture.
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©2009 OhmyNews
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