Recession leads to 150% rise in long term youth unemployment

5.12.00pm GMT Wed 27th Jan 2010

This economic downturn has hit many people hard. Unemployment in East Lothian has increased by over 800 in the last year according to the latest figures.

Young people in particular must feel cheated by this recession. The number of 18-24 year olds in Scotland who have been unemployed for longer than 6 months has increased by over 150% in the last year. Many of whom will have left school, college and university with high hopes of starting a career only to find they cannot get on the job ladder.

I know how it feels as I was once one of those statistics. I was long term unemployed shortly after leaving university and had to leave East Lothian to find work.

At the moment a young person has to wait 12 months before being referred to a back to work programme which is too long. This has to change. The longer these young people are locked out of work, the greater the risk that they will be trapped in long term unemployment and suffer from the destructive consequences such as poverty, depression and bad health.

Liberal Democrats will promise young people that they will not spend more than 90 days on Jobseekers Allowance before they get more training, education, an internship or a place on a work programme. We will do this by increasing the number of further education places, giving students financial support to return to college and creating a paid internship scheme.

Stuart Ritchie

East Lothian Liberal Democrats Parliamentary Candidate.