A study reveals that British youth are more likely to lose their jobs compared with older workers, as the ongoing pandemic continues to lash out. A study conducted by the London School of Economics (LSE) found that in the past two months, the proportion of people to lose their job aged 16 to 25 was 11.1 per cent, compared with 4.6 per cent for those aged 26 and over. The majority of young people (58 per cent) also experienced a fall in their earnings, compared with 42 per cent across the rest of the working population.
In its report, the LSE found that women, self-employed people and those who grew up in a poor family were more likely to experience unemployment and wage cuts. Titled 'Generation Covid: Emerging Work and Education Inequalities', the study said the pandemic had heightened the need for a jobs guarantee directed at those under 26 that would give them a basic wage and on-the-job training.
They said, “It is well-known that young workers entering the labour market in recessions suffer a range of consequences, impacting on earnings and jobs for 10 to 115 years, and affecting other outcomes, including general health and the likelihood of entering a life of crime.” Fearing that the next generation of workers would struggle to gain the skills needed in a post-pandemic labour market, they said, “There is also a real concern that people who have lost their jobs are moving on to trajectories heading to long-term unemployment, the costs of which are substantial.”
They also revealed that inequality in the workplace was also likely to worsen over the next decade as university students from the lowest-income backgrounds lost 52 per cent of their normal teaching hours as a result of lockdown, while those from the highest-income groups experienced a 40 per cent loss.
