Unemployment drops but JSA claimant level rises

At last week’s meeting of Marketing Stockport’s key sponsors and supporters, the subject of nurturing skills in the young people of Stockport was very much a concern.

Supporting Apprenticeship schemes and providing valuable work experience was very much on our business agendas, and according to figures released today, with good reason. Unemployment figures have fallen below 8% for the first time since January 2009 but the amount of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance has risen, new figures show.

The figures have been released on the same day that the Government chose to annouce that around a 1,000 jobs are to be cut at the Department of Education.

The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 71.2%, up 0.2 on April to June 2012, and up 1.0 on a year earlier.  The number of 16 to 24-year-olds in work increased by 49,000, but unemployment within the age group still remains at almost 21%.

The Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) latest report shows that there were 2.51 million unemployed people for July to September 2012 – down 49,000 on April to June 2012, and down a further 110,000 on a year earlier.

There are a number of organisations who help young people to achieve, some of these are included in the document below and include:

Prince’s Trust

Around one in five young people in the UK are not in work, education or training. Youth unemployment costs the UK economy £10 million a day in lost productivity, while youth crime costs £1 billion every year. The Prince’s Tryst addresses this by giving practical and financial support to the young people who need it most (those who are unemployed, who are leaving care, who are underachieving in school or who are young offenders). We help develop key skills, confidence and motivation, enabling young people to move into work, education or training.  The Trust was established in 1976 and last year supported over 54,000 young people.

Rathbone

Rathbone is a UK-wide voluntary youth sector organisation providing opportunities for young people to transform their life-circumstances by re-engaging with learning, discovering their ability to succeed and achieving progression to further education, training and employment. 

Their philosophy and our approach to working with young people today is inspired by the vision of founder, Elfrida Rathbone. Her ground breaking education work early in the 20th century was underpinned by her belief that everyone, whatever their starting point in life, could make progress through learning.

Rathbone provides support at all levels of education. Youth Choices is designed for young people aged 11 – 16 (Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4) who are experiencing difficulties in mainstream education. Preparation for Life and Work provides training, initial advice and guidance and nationally recognised qualifications for young people aged 16+ who are not yet ready to access work or study. The Apprenticeship programme helps apprentices (aged 16-24) to get the skills, knowledge and qualifications that employers want.

Young Enterprise North West

Young Enterprise has, since 1963, developed and delivered a diverse portfolio of programmes which ensure future generations gain enterprise skills at a young age.  Young Enterprise has a tried and tested method of developing strong enterprise capabilities in thousands of young people from age four to twenty-five.

 Through the delivery of its programmes, Young Enterprise aims to make young people more aware of their own abilities and make them realise their potential.  From one day events to year long programmes Young Enterprise ensures learning by doing becomes central to primary, secondary and higher education.

Read the full document here – Thank you to Hallidays for providing this insight taken from the charity’s websites, November 2012.