\u201cEmployers have certain expectations and I\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0always fulfil those expectations and targets. I do what I can but\u00a0unfortunately\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0never enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are thousands of care leavers<\/a> who have been unable to find employment. Around 40% of care-experienced people aged 19 to 21 are NEET.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0compared with 12.7% of their peers who are not care-experienced, according to Office for National Statistics figures.<\/p>\n Hill\u00a0has managed to secure part-time work in a supermarket but\u00a0has been unable to find full-time\u00a0employment. At times, he has had to turn to a food bank<\/a> to survive.\u00a0<\/p>\n He says this the challenges have\u00a0impacted\u00a0his mental health<\/a>. \u201cWhen I was younger, all I wanted was freedom and independence.\u00a0Financial support\u00a0would mean\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0be able to go out and not feel trapped\u00a0in being unemployed and having no money,\u201d he explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n The job application process can be \u201clengthy\u201d and mean personality tests even before a candidate has got to interview stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people are facing a perfect storm of challenges.\u00a0The\u00a0high cost\u00a0of\u00a0living, insecure\u00a0work and\u00a0housing,\u00a0and inadequate universal credit<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0pushing young people into financial hardship\u00a0and\u00a0towards food banks,\u201d says Emma Revie, youth engagement lead at food bank charity Trussell.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Alan Milburn<\/a>, the former health minister commissioned by the government to\u00a0review the levels of youth unemployment, argues that it is a \u201cwhole-system failure\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a failure of young people,\u201d Milburn wrote in the first part of his\u00a0report\u00a0published in May. \u201cIt is a failure of a system stuck in the past. It would be easier to blame one thing: Covid, smartphones, benefits, schools<\/a>, employers,\u00a0parents\u00a0or young people themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe evidence does not support a single explanation. It supports something harder to\u00a0accept:\u00a0that the institutions we built to support young people into adulthood are no longer fit for that purpose, and that the country has known this for some time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rising ill health, a weak labour market, a changing online world, limited vocational education and a hands-off benefits system<\/a> were\u00a0deemed\u00a0key drivers of youth unemployment.<\/p>\n Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said he commissioned the report \u201cbecause we cannot afford to lose a generation of young people\u201d.\u00a0He welcomed Milburn\u2019s \u201cvital work which lays bare the scale of the challenge and the root causes of youth unemployment we now need to confront\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wren relies on universal credit to afford to live alongside a part-time salary,\u00a0but people under the age of 25 get\u00a0around \u00a3100\u00a0less each month\u00a0than claimants who are older.\u00a0The assumption is that these young people will be able to rely on family members financially, but this is not always the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of essentials does not care how old you are \u2013 so why do people under 25 receive less in universal credit payments?\u00a0This\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0right,\u201d says\u00a0Rekie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut young people are still hopeful\u00a0that change is possible. Policymakers must make the bold changes that will mean we can all afford the essentials, or risk failing the next generation and holding back our families, communities, and economy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Become Charity<\/a>, which has supported Hill, is advocating for for care leavers to receive the higher\u00a0over-25 rate of universal credit from age 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hill says that the charity has helped him understand his rights and \u201cbuild confidence\u201d.\u00a0He has also taken part in its\u00a0Propel into Work programme, which helps care leavers up to the age of 27 with employment support, tailoring their CVs and offering them advice with job applications and interviews.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wren would like to start his own business, \u201cideally sharing my own experiences, doing training or personal\u00a0development\u00a0and\u00a0possibly mentoring\u201d and he \u201cwould love to travel for work\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere should be more support for employment,\u201d adds Wren.\u00a0\u201cI do think\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a lot of employers that take advantage of young people in work. They need to stop, frankly.\u00a0I also think there just needs to be mental health support within work where\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0not going to be fired or\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0not going to be judged over that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Big Issue Recruit<\/a> also has a programme supporting care-experienced young people get into work.\u00a0The specialist recruitment service\u00a0offers one-to-one support from a work coach\u00a0to help\u00a0people from marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds who face\u00a0barriers to getting into\u00a0employment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond care-experienced young people, there are other groups who face\u00a0additional\u00a0challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n One in five people supported by Big Issue Recruit is aged 18 to 25.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMany have applied for hundreds of jobs and struggle to find an employer to give them a chance,\u201d says Catherine Parsons, managing director of Big Issue Recruit.\u00a0\u201cSome of these are being supported through a project focused on care- experienced young people, many of whom may face\u00a0additional\u00a0barriers, and discrimination.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ruby, a 20-year-old woman from\u00a0Abertridwr\u00a0in Caerphilly, South Wales, has been supported by a Big Issue Recruit work coach since the start of 2026 as part of a programme helping young people from South Wales get into work, backed by Bute Energy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n She\u00a0lives in an ex-mining village with few job opportunities and limited public transport links with no train station. She does not drive, although she is learning, which restricts her options for work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0been applying for roles that are suitable for me. Most of the time, I hear nothing back.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0awful. I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0hard for everyone,\u201d Ruby says.\u00a0\u201cEveryone wants a job and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just a nightmare. Obviously, they want people with experience. But when\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0young, you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have experience. And to get experience, you need a job.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Ruby went to college after school but struggled with it so only did one year. She has had short-term jobs in hospitality and in retail, but these have not given her consistent work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Her job coach Nicci Button has helped her claim universal credit and ensure her CV and job applications are strong, but it\u00a0remains\u00a0a challenge to find work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI apply for around five jobs a day.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0always going on Indeed and other job websites.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0just a nightmare. It makes me feel horrible.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0just not getting anywhere. I want to do well in life, and I\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0do that without getting a job for myself,\u201d Ruby says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It is her dream to run her own business or work in sales and beauty, but\u00a0at the moment, she just wants to get a full-time job.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn Big Issue Recruit, each young person works on a one-to-one basis with a job coach to identify their skills, strengths and aspirations and to match them with employers who have vacancies and want to create a more diverse workforce,\u201d said Parsons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cWe have partnerships with employers in hospitality, construction,\u00a0logistics\u00a0and green\u00a0energy, and\u00a0job coaches provide support to the young person and their manager for the first six months after they start work. This makes the world of work feel safer for everyone and means that over 90% of people who find a job through Big Issue Recruit stay employed, gaining the skills and experience to start building a career.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Change a vendor\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 and always take the magazine. It\u2019s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.<\/p>\n You can also support online: Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cEmployers have certain expectations and I\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0always fulfil those expectations and targets. I do what I can but\u00a0unfortunately\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0never enough.\u201d\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,44518,1635,29,32950,26175,18,1073,4770,4126,2513],"class_list":["post-107188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-britain","tag-care-experience","tag-cost-of-living-crisis","tag-employment","tag-learning-and-employment","tag-neet","tag-news","tag-poverty","tag-unemployment","tag-young-people","tag-youth-unemployment"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117126271225043343","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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