3:30pm Thursday 18th March 2010
By Sam Thomson, Business Editor
The number of young people out of work leapt last year because of the recession.
According to the latest figures presented to Brighton and Hove City Council, 8.8% of teenagers aged 16-18 are now classified as NEETs as they are not in education, employment or training.
This is 13% higher than the proportion who were in the same position a year earlier.
The issue of youth unemployment has sparked fears of a “lost generation”
caused by the recession as people who struggle to find work now may remain on the scrap heap for years.
To avoid this, the Government has poured millions of pounds into schemes designed to reduce the number of NEETs.
Every 16 and 17-year-old classified as a NEET in January has been offered a place on an Entry to Employment (E2E) course. The money from the Department of Children, Schools and Families has paid for 60 extra E2E places in Brighton and Hove alone.
The city has also successfully applied for millions of pounds through the Government's Future Jobs Fund programme, which is creating temporary jobs for young people out of work for 12 months or longer.
More than 550 have been or are expected to be created in Brighton and Hove at an average cost of £6,500.
But despite these efforts, employment opportunities have fallen because of the economic slump.
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