Youth Unemployment in Hackney
Posted by Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, at 14:02, Fri 11 December 2009:
As many constituents will know, I have been campaigning to improve education in Hackney since I was first elected in 1987. And the situation has been steadily improving. For example GCSE results in the Borough have been getting better and better. The number of students getting 5 or more A*-C grades has more than doubled from 30% to 70% since 2002. 90% of the secondary schools in the Borough are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.
But there remains a problem with youth unemployment in the area. The percentage of young people not in employment, education or training is about 10%.
Earlier this month I met with representatives from the Transforming a Generation group in Hackney. TAG is a charity focused on getting young people not in employment, education or training into work in the fitness sector. I was really impressed with the work that is going on there – professional mentors, job placements and advice on personal development. And the Government is introducing a number of plans aimed at young people through the Job Centre Plus. The “Young Person’s Guarantee” means every young person will have a job, training programme or community work experience within a year of receiving Jobseekers’ Allowance. The Council have also made young people a priority. They are upping funding and support for kids who are have been excluded from school and providing a number of diplomas for over-14s.
What help would constituents like to see for our young people who are not in employment, education or training?
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Posted by Linda Nalunga Sekagya, 04:57, Mon 14 December 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
More financial support for young adults trying to get into university would be great. Because there are many young people that would like the opportunity to get into university but cannot simply because their families cannot afford to send them to university.
Yes, we do have student loans, however, the money is not enough to sustain students at university. Often they have to find work which can also be a distraction from their studies, hence leading to drop outs and so on.