“It was expensive, badly targeted and did not work.” Former UK prime minister David Cameron did not mince his words about the most recent youth employment scheme set up in a recession. That has not deterred the current Conservative government from the same gambit, only three times bigger. The success of the “kick-start” job scheme is far from assured. Business, which taxpayers have supported through the pandemic, will share the blame if it fails.
The £2bn initiative announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak on Wednesday will create six-month work placements paying the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of people aged 16-24. Without this, youth unemployment is expected to reach record levels. Being out of work or education for six months or longer is debilitating. That is bad for the jobless — and for businesses that might otherwise employ them.