WIREDGOV

Changes to the state pension age and welfare rules mean young people have done particularly badly as a result of yesterday’s Autumn Statement, says the TUC.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Almost a million young people are currently looking for work and will have been hoping for much more than the Chancellor offered them today.

“While it’s good news that employers are to be encouraged to provide more apprenticeships and that they won’t have to pay national insurance contributions for some young people in the future, effective and immediate action is needed to tackle the youth unemployment crisis.

“Unfortunately all the government has to offer is new measures to make young people work for free, when what is really needed is a job guarantee.

“Youngsters will understandably feel that they have been given a raw deal by the government. Not only are they to be forced into working for free once they’ve failed to secure a job after six months, but their working lives are to be dramatically extended too.

“Changes announced to state pension age mean that young people living in the least affluent parts of the UK will quite simply be working until they drop.”

Contacts:

Media enquiries:

Liz Chinchen   T: 020 7467 1248    M: 07778 158175    E: media@tuc.org.uk

Rob Holdsworth    T: 020 7467 1372    M: 07717 531150     E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk