{"id":263379,"date":"2025-09-29T08:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T08:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/263379\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T08:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T08:47:12","slug":"rachel-reeves-to-guarantee-paid-work-for-young-people-unemployed-for-18-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/263379\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves to guarantee paid work for young people unemployed for 18 months"},"content":{"rendered":"

Becky MortonPolitical reporter<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

Young people who have been out of a job or education for 18 months will be offered a guaranteed paid work placement, Rachel Reeves is set to announce.<\/p>\n

Those who do not to take up the offer could face being stripped of their benefits.<\/p>\n

In her speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, the chancellor will promise “nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment”. <\/p>\n

Reeves is also expected to make the case for a society founded on “contribution”, where “hard work is matched by fair reward”.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Reeves defended Labour’s record after 15 months in government and highlighted achievements it had made, though she admitted there was “more to do”.<\/p>\n

Reeves said no businesses had yet signed up to the scheme as it has not yet been formally announced, but said that several business organisations had come out in support.<\/p>\n

It comes ahead of November’s Budget, with the chancellor under pressure to balance the public finances, while also boosting economic growth.<\/p>\n

The scheme builds on a “youth guarantee”, announced last November<\/a>, which promised every 18 to 21-year-old in England access to an apprenticeship, training, education opportunities or help to find a job.<\/p>\n

Under the new initiative, every young person who has been on Universal Credit for 18 months without “earning or learning” will be offered a guaranteed paid work placement.<\/p>\n

Those who refuse to take up the offer without a reasonable excuse will face sanctions such as losing their benefits.<\/p>\n

The aim of the placements would be to help people build up the skills to get a full-time job.<\/p>\n

An estimated one-in-eight 16-24-year-olds are not currently in education, employment or training – around 948,000 people – according to the latest figures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The numbers hit an 11-year high of 987,000 at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

The new scheme will build on existing employment support and work placements delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions.<\/p>\n

It will work with private companies, with the government anticipating businesses would cover at least some of the wages for job placements.<\/p>\n

The government has not given a figure for the cost of the scheme but it will be funded from existing budgets set out in the spending review earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Full details will be set out in November’s Budget, when the chancellor sets out the government’s tax and spending plans.<\/p>\n

Reeves is facing a difficult Budget, with economists warning tax rises or spending cuts will be needed for the chancellor to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules.<\/p>\n

In an interview with BBC Breakfast, the chancellor was challenged over whether the government would increase VAT.<\/p>\n

Labour promised not to increase taxes on “working people”, specifically National Insurance, income tax or VAT, in its election manifesto last year.<\/p>\n

Reeves repeated the prime minister’s insistence on Saturday that the commitments in Labour’s manifesto stand.<\/p>\n

She said the government had “protected the pay packets of working people and we did not put up the prices in the shops”, adding: “That’s very important to me.”<\/p>\n

In her conference speech, the chancellor is expected to say: “I will never be satisfied while too many people’s potential is wasted, frozen out of employment, education, or training. There’s no defending it.<\/p>\n

“It’s bad for business, bad for taxpayers, bad for our economy, and it scars people’s prospects throughout their lives.”<\/p>\n

She will add: “Just as the last Labour government, with its new deal for young people, abolished long-term youth unemployment I can commit this government to nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment.”<\/p>\n

The announcement was welcomed by the Federation of Small Businesses as “hugely important”.<\/p>\n

The group’s policy chair, Tina McKenzie, said: “Reprioritising spending from employment programmes which aren’t working to this type of scheme is exactly the way to get much-needed bang for taxpayer cash.”<\/p>\n

She added: “Key to getting the details right is making sure there is a backstop offer to those who are now over-25, particularly those with health challenges; that young people out of work for health reasons are not excluded through misguided double funding rules; and that small businesses are enabled to play a full role in the delivery of the scheme.”<\/p>\n

However, there are questions over whether businesses facing pressures including increases in National Insurance Contributions and the National Minimum Wage would be able to take on large numbers of new workers.<\/p>\n

The number of job vacancies in the UK has been falling<\/a>, hitting their lowest level since the pandemic earlier this year.<\/p>\n

In her speech, Reeves will also set out her belief in a “Britain based on opportunity”, where “ordinary kids can flourish, unhindered by their background”.<\/p>\n

“I believe in a Britain founded on contribution – where we do our duty for each other, and where hard work is matched by fair reward,” she is expected to say.<\/p>\n

It comes after the influential think tank Labour Together published a report last week<\/a> arguing the government should put the idea of “contribution” – that if you pay in to the system, you should be able to see what you get out of it – at the heart of its agenda.<\/p>\n

The chancellor will also pledge to fund a library in every primary school in England.<\/p>\n

Around one-in-seven state primary schools in England – roughly 1,700 – do not have a library, according to figures from the National Literacy Trust, rising to one-in-four for disadvantaged areas.<\/p>\n

\"Thin,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Becky MortonPolitical reporter PA Media Young people who have been out of a job or education for 18…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":263380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,420,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-263379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-jobs","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115286720802502412","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}