Younger age groups are amongst the worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic’s economic impact with many people likely to have been working in hospitality, retail, tourism and leisure – industries hit hard by lockdowns.
Almost two thirds of the 730,000 people who lost their payroll jobs in the last year were under the age of 24, according to HM Revenue and Customs.
So, what was in the budget that might help younger people caught up in COVID-19‘s economic fallout?
Furlough has been extended to 30 September 2021
Those currently employed by businesses but on furlough should continue to receive 80% of their wages. However, employers will need to start contributing 10% of wages from July, with further small increases in August and September.
Although the UK’s unemployment rate has risen to 5.1% for the first time since 2015, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, as it’s formally known, has been credited with preventing far greater unemployment.
The scheme, which is open to all age groups, has been vital for young people. As the chart below shows, 18 to 24-year-olds, especially women, are more likely to be furloughed than others.
Six-month extension of £20 increase to Universal Credit
People who have lost their jobs will welcome the six-month extension to the temporary £20 weekly increase in Universal Credit.
The proportion of 18-24 year olds claiming out-of-work benefits, like Universal Credit, has increased by far more than other age groups since the start of the pandemic.
Overall, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates the rise, which was introduced last March, should benefit around 6.5 million families.
Grants and tax cuts for hospitality, accommodation, and tourism
Rishi Sunak has offered businesses in the hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym industries in England an £18,000 one-off grant and he’s cut the VAT rate to 5%.
These are all sectors that employ a significant number of younger people and, as the chart below shows, they have also cut a substantial number of jobs as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Around 350,000 business are expected to benefit over the next three months and that could help boost recruitment, especially amongst the young.
Millions for apprenticeship and traineeships schemes
Businesses will continue to receive incentives to hire apprentices until September 2021 and their bonus for doing so will double to £3,000 per apprentice.
There’s also £126m in new funding for traineeships, creating 40,000 more places.
Both apprenticeship and traineeship schemes combine practical training in a job with study and can take from one to five years to complete.
However, the number of people taking part in them fell by 28% between 23 March and 31 July 2020. In the year before COVID-19, participation had increased by almost 4%.
National Living Wage will rise to £8.91 per hour
The wage increase, previously announced in November and confirmed by the chancellor in his budget, is also set to be extended to 23-year-olds from April for the first time.
But unlike some of the programmes above, the increase in national living wage may “incentivise employers to discriminate against the young” as many will see their employment costs rise, the conservative think tank Centre for Policy Studies says in a new report.
Jethro Elsden, the report’s author, said going ahead with the current plans “will harm the very people it is designed to help”.
He added: “This policy would not only threaten to increase unemployment, but would hit precisely those sectors, regions and age groups that have already suffered the most from the coronavirus, not to mention imposing a significant additional cost to the Treasury.”