Mary calls for action on youth unemployment

Wakefield Mary Creagh MP today (16th November) called for more to be done about the dramatic rise in long term youth unemployment in Wakefield district.

New figures released on 16 November show that the number of young people on the dole for six months or more in Wakefield has more than doubled. The number of young people claiming JSA for more than 12 months has also soared. The Tory-led Government’s economic policies are hurting but not working.

The government is failing in its basic duty to help get people back to work. Worst of all youth unemployment is rising rapidly with young people unemployed for longer.

Together, this is pushing up the benefits bill by over £12 billion - £500 for every household in the country. To pay that bill, the government is squeezing working families by;

Cutting help with childcare – 900 families lose out in Wakefield

Freezing or cutting tax credits – 11,600 people affected in Wakefield

Accelerating the state pension age for 4200 women in Wakefield

Mary said:

“We need something done about this fast. Youth unemployment is now reaching crisis levels, and young people are staying unemployed for longer and longer. Since last year there has been a staggering 123% rise in young people on the dole for more than six months in Wakefield.

“Labour have shown there is a better way, a £2 billion tax on bank bonuses to fund 10,000 jobs in Yorkshire for young people is part of Labour’s 5 point plan to create jobs and economic growth.”

“Sadly David Cameron and George Osborne are so out of touch that they don’t seem to understand that more people on the dole – claiming benefits rather than paying taxes – will just make it harder to get the deficit down. Because of this it could be a long, bleak winter for many families in Wakefield.”