Young men slipping through cracks in economy

• Author: Sarah O'Connor
• Published date: 29 June 2022
• Publication title: Irish Times: Web Edition Articles (Dublin, Ireland)

The biggest driver of the decline in youth worklessness in recent decades is the collapse in the number of stay-at-home young mothers. The number of young women who are "economically inactive" because they are caring for family dropped 78 per cent between 2006 and 2021, according to an analysis by the Resolution Foundation. The trope of the teenage mum living off benefits is badly out of date

There are two things going on. Fewer young women are having babies, and those who do become young mothers are now more likely to work. Lower birth rates among young women are a broader societal trend common to many countries, though UK policymakers did apply an extra push with the introduction of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in 1999. Given that teenage mothers are less likely to finish education and more likely to end up in poverty, this trend is worth celebrating.

Childcare provision

Higher employment rates for young mothers, meanwhile, are probably the result of various factors, including somewhat better childcare provision. Benefits were also made more conditional after 2008 to encourage more lone parents into work, which will apply to some (but not all) of this group. Evaluations of that policy change point to mixed results. Lone parents did become more likely to work, but many ended up in low-paid, part-time jobs. One government survey found that a third of the respondents who had entered work said they earned less than £6 (€6.95) an hour, though the minimum wage was £6.08 when the survey was done. Finances did improve in households where lone parents found work, but the survey found that two in five were still in "material deprivation".

The other story hidden in the youth worklessness data is more troubling. The proportion of young men who are inactive (neither working nor looking for work) has climbed steadily from 5 per cent in 2000 to 9 per cent last year. The UK isn't the only country to see men drop out of the labour market: in the US, economists have mooted a number of explanations including the allure of video games. But Louise Murphy of the Resolution Foundation says the UK data suggests a major reason for rising inactivity among young men is ill-health, particularly mental health. The same trend...