MEP supports guarantee for unemployed youth

"At last - a glimmer of hope for Britain's lost youth," said Local Labour Euro MP Arlene McCarthy after an agreement reached by EU governments to bring in an EU-wide ‘youth guarantee.’

The youth guarantee will ensure that all young people under the age of 25 get an offer of good quality employment, continuing education, apprenticeship or traineeship after an extended period of unemployment or leaving formal education.

"One in four young people active in the labour market in the North West are unemployed, the highest level for almost 25 years. I call on the British government to use the UK's share of the €6 billion Youth Guarantee funds to save a generation of young people in our region." Arlene added.

"Tory MEPs were almost alone in the European Parliament back in December last year as MEPs from across the political spectrum were united in our calls for a guarantee to unemployed youth to get a job for a fixed period," she said.

Labour Euro MPs launch a campaign for a Youth Jobs Guarantee at last year's Labour Conference, and followed this up with a conference in Nottingham, where unemployed youth from across the EU met with employers, Labour Leader Ed Miliband and EU politicians to discuss different approaches to youth unemployment.

In December last year, Labour MEPs supported the TUC's 'Charter for a Future That Works' whose aims also included calls for guaranteed paid work or training after a period of unemployment for unemployed youth.

Arlene added “In Britain, there are a million young people who are unemployed. Across Europe, it's over five million. This is devastating for the young people themselves, but also a huge waste for our economy, with potentially disastrous implications for the future.”

”We now need to ensure that any scheme set up in the UK as a result of the Youth Guarantee actually creates real employment."