Today’s youth unemployment figures signal the need for a change in government policy. Commenting on the change, Professor Philip Booth, Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

“For 15 years, successive governments have increased the regulatory burden on employers, something that has continued under the coalition. Attempts at deregulation under the current government have been overwhelmed by new regulatory burdens in the form of an extension of the minimum wage to younger people; increased maternity rights; complulsory pension provision; and the temporary workers’ directive. It has been estimated that these will cost £23billion by the end of the current parliament.

“Such regulation destroys job opportunies, especially for young people and those who have recently been employed. Experience in continental Europe sugggests that there is a danger of a cycle of decline where the skills of the unemployed deteriorate and they find it even harder to get jobs so that unemployment terms lengthen and levels of joblessness settle at much higher levels.”

Notes to editors

To arrange an interview with Prof Philip Booth, IEA Editorial Director, please contact Stephanie Lis, Communications Director, 077 5171 7781, 020 7799 8900, slis@iea.org.uk.

The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.

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