More than 2,200 young people in Worcestershire are now claiming Universal Credit.
Overall Universal Credit claimant numbers have fallen, councillors have heard, but youth unemployment remains an area of concern with 5.4 per cent of those aged 18-24 claiming the benefit.
The impact varies across the county.
Worcester currently stands below the county average at 4.6 per cent, while Redditch is significantly higher at around eight per cent and Wyre Forest at 5.7 per cent.
CHALLENGE: Deputy council leader Adam Kent said the government has failed young people (Image: Phil Wilkinson-Jones/LDRS)
A further concern is the estimated 600 young people currently not in education, employment or training (NEET), according to council figures.
Each year, around 2,000 young people in Worcestershire complete apprenticeships, though the employment picture remains mixed.
Judy Gibbs, head of skills and employability at Worcestershire County Council, said: “Since Covid we’ve recognised some worrying concerns about the number of young people who were becoming NEET or becoming unemployed, so we started to put programmes in support of this in 2020.
“That started with a helpline and in 2021 we started Careers Worcestershire.
“That has evolved dramatically and has become a service to support all 16 to 24-year-olds.”
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Ms Gibbs said that many NEET young people face “systemic” barriers, including a lack of mid-year education options.
She said if a young person leaves a further education course for any reason, they are unlikely to find another until the following September because they’ve missed the start date.
The council is also supporting an increasing number of young people with health conditions.
Ms Gibbs raised concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in job recruitment, saying it is being used to siphon people out of the recruitment process.
She said she recently heard from a young person who had applied for 84 jobs and heard back from five. “I think I’d feel a bit unmotivated after that,” she said. “People just don’t get back to people.”
Hard to re-enter education
Education chief Dan Boatright-Greene said the removal of January course starts has made it harder for young people to re-enter education outside the traditional academic cycle.
He said: “It’s almost like you get one shot and if after five weeks you decide the course isn’t for you, things go wrong for a year.”
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Deputy council leader Adam Kent said youth unemployment had risen by almost 20 per cent in Bromsgrove, Redditch and Malvern Hills over the past 18 months.
He said: “The government has failed these children. They haven’t got the opportunities to do what they want to do.
“This is one of the biggest challenges facing us across the UK and as a council.
“If that means getting rid of the minimum wage at a certain level when you’re in training, then so be it.”
