Youth unemployment is now one of the greatest challenges facing the country. Nearly 1½ million young people are currently not in education, employment or training – over 1 in 5 of all young people. A quarter of a million have been unemployed for over a year. The costs of these levels of long-term youth unemployment – now and in the future – are enormous. The Commission on Youth Unemployment was set up in September 2011 by ACEVO (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) in response to widespread concern amongst voluntary sector leaders about youth unemployment. It is clear that that concern is shared across society from speaking to people from across the voluntary, private and public sectors, as well as young people themselves. This report is a call to arms for a coalition of schools, councils, charities, businesses and others to act on youth unemployment, as it is a series of recommendations for central government.
