David Willetts

In response to a new OECD report on young people’s skills, David Willetts MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, said:

“This is a devastating critique of a decade of failure. In 1997 Labour promised a new deal for young people. But now a lower proportion of young people are in work, a higher proportion are unemployed and a higher proportion are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

“We have two nations in skills. Highly-qualified young people do relatively well. But fewer than half of young people without qualifications have a job twelve months after leaving school. Tackling this means more real apprenticeships and more good schools.”

Notes for Editors

The OECD has today launched a report entitled Jobs for Youth: United Kingdom, which shows that:

• Job prospects for this age group (16-24) have worsened in recent years at a time when the OECD average youth unemployment rate was falling. In 2007, the unemployment rate of 16 to 24 year olds was 14.4% in Britain, up from 11% in 2002, according to figures in the OECD report Jobs for Youth: United Kingdom. Driven by the poor job prospects facing many teenagers, employment rates among 16 to 24 year olds fell to 55.9% in 2007 from 60.9% in 2002.

• But low-skilled 16 to 24 year olds in the United Kingdom perform below the OECD average, the OECD report makes clear. In 2005, the ratio of low skilled to high skilled youth unemployment rates stood at almost five to one, the second highest in the OECD.

(www.oecd.org/document/62/0,3343,en_2649_201185_40974910_1_1_1_1,00.html)