Inside the UK’s youth joblessness capital, where 1 in 6 claim benefits

On the surface, the Birmingham suburb of Erdington seems like a typical small town, with a handful of pubs and a somewhat bustling centre complete with a Greggs and B&M. But off the high street, several boarded-up and closing-down businesses offer a glimpse into the reason the West Midlands constituency is suddenly on the map. Erdington has been named the youth joblessness capital of the UK, with 16.2 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds on unemployment benefits, according to labour market data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Shorts This is far beyond the national average of 5.7 per cent, showing that young people in the northeast Birmingham suburb are nearly three times more likely to be claiming unemployment benefits such as universal credit or jobseekers allowance. But the statistics are no surprise to young locals, who told The i Paper they have spent months looking for work – as business owners say they can’t afford to take on new staff. “It makes me feel worthless,” said Will Butler, an 18-year-old who finished college in July but signed up to the local job centre after putting in “countless” unsuccessful applications. Speaking to The i Paper while on his way back from an appointment at Erdington Jobcentre, he said: “I spend two or three hours a day looking for work online, and then I’ll spend another two hours going out handing CVs every day. “I’ve only ever had one interview in the past three years, and I’ve just been continuously applying to places and never had anything back from anywhere.” Will hoped the job centre would help him find entry-level work in retail or hospitality, but when he asked for help, the work coach said: “Sorry, we don’t do that here.” “I had no hope after that,” the teenager said, adding that he wished he had taken more steps to find work “a bit earlier on” while he was still in college. Cameron Nicholls, 22, who spoke just before an appointment at the same job centre, said finding work is now “harder than it used to be”. He has been out of work since the start of the year and looking for jobs in construction and warehouses, but a lack of responses from employers and limited help from the job centre have left him feeling “a bit useless”. Cameron said he will be “in and out” of the job centre in five or 10 minutes, where staff will sign off his benefits rather than spending time to help him find more work opportunities. Young people ‘not getting support’ Will and Cameron are among more than a million young people aged 16-24 in the UK who are not in education, employment or training – also known as “Neet”. New Labour-era former minister Alan Milburn, who has been carrying out an independent review of youth unemployment, said a “whole system failure” across welfare, education and health has left young people permanently “detached” from the world of work. His final report is due this autumn, where he is expected to propose overhauling the system to get young people into work and drive down the benefits bill. A government spokesperson said “further reform will follow”. Richard Parker, the Labour mayor for the West Midlands, said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is “failing” young people, with job centres providing inadequate support. “Young people currently aren’t getting the direction or the support they need to help them get into the world of work, and we’ve got to address those fault lines,” he told The i Paper. “Frankly, the current ecosystem is failing our young people.” Parker said the system “encourages” people to claim social security rather than work, as they can sometimes earn more from benefits than from low-paid jobs. “It is heartbreaking”, he said, adding: “We’ve got to make sure we support that transition and support people moving from benefits to work in a way that doesn’t act as a disincentive.” Parker said he will use his devolved mayoral powers to implement employment hubs in “every major town centre” and to provide training programmes that are linked with the region’s “growth sectors” such as construction, logistics and life sciences. Firms ‘don’t want to hire young people’ The i Paper spoke to several young people on the streets of Erdington who have spent months applying for countless jobs online – and in person – without any support. Lewis McKeirnan, 18, said companies often overlook young people Raghad Arif, 20, said she had been applying for “about a year” while at university, getting at least 50 rejections a month. “It was really tiring,” she said. “I felt like I was applying to every job, but they either just weren’t getting back to me, or I was just getting rejected.” “Companies don’t really want to hire young people… they want to hire the person with the most experience,” said Lewis McKeirnan, 18. “But what that always means is that the person who’s younger and doesn’t have experience, they often miss out.” Waheed Saleem, head of policy and partnerships at Witton Lodge Community Association – which helps find young people employment and training opportunities in north Birmingham – said is it “not surprising” that Erdington has the highest youth unemployment rates in the UK. He said this is partly due to “intergenerational issues”, with both parents and children being unemployed, as well as “educational achievement”, but added: “The biggest barrier is people not believing in the young people in Erdington.” Erdington has become the youth joblessness capital of the UK “There’s a lot of ambition,” Saleem said. “We just need to create opportunities for the young people in Erdington to be able to grasp those opportunities.” But small business owners in Erdington told The i Paper they can hardly afford to pay their own salaries, let alone take on a young trainee. Kamlesh Bali, who runs a local newsagent, said she and her husband work from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, because they cannot afford to take on another member of staff. “What we take in, it’s very hard for us, and to pay a wage as well, we struggle as it is as a small shop,” she said. Faiz Qumar and Kamlesh Bali (left to right) say they cannot afford to hire more employees Faiz Qumar, the owner of an LED lights business, agreed there is not enough business in the town to hire more staff, but said if he did, he would go for an older person with “a little bit of experience, a little bit more serious with a job”. Davis Woods, the owner of Oikos Cafe, a charity organisation on Erdington high street, said young people often come in asking for work, saying they are “struggling” due to a lack of experience. The cafe takes on volunteers to help them develop skills that could lead to future jobs in hospitality. There are schemes to help young people find work, with ministers choosing Birmingham and Solihull as one of six pilot locations for its Jobs Guarantee programme. The scheme will support 275 young people into fully subsidised six-month work placements with local employers. Ministers are also expanding their nationwide Youth Guarantee, with a £2.5bn package including 300,000 new work and training placements for young people and financial incentives of up to £3,000 for employers who hire and train eligible young jobseekers. Lots of businesses in Erdington are boarded-up and closing down Deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Julien Pritchard, said youth unemployment remains a “significant challenge”, and the council is working to connect young people with local organisations. “Although it is early days, and tackling entrenched inequality takes time, there is evidence of young people progressing into work, education and training,” he said. A DWP spokesperson said it is “determined to give every young person – in Erdington and around the country” the chance to earn with its youth employment support, which is hoped to reach nearly one million people and unlock up to 500,000 jobs and training opportunities. They said: “Businesses already receive significant tax breaks through the National Insurance exemption for under-21s and apprentices under 25, and we are providing hiring incentives worth up to £8,000 when they take on an eligible young person.”