IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Prof. Len Shackleton has penned an op-ed for 1828, arguing that the government has a responsibility to do something about dismal youth unemployment figures.

Len suggests that  Covid lockdown measures have put immense strain on businesses and have disproportionally affected young people in the labour market. But instead of expensive state schemes like ‘Kickstart’, the government should be lowering costs on businesses to hire.

Len said: “scrapping employers’ national insurance contributions for all under the age of 25, and cutting regulation and employment mandates such as pension auto-enrolment (which is largely pointless for young people) and the apprenticeship levy (which acts as a payroll tax) would be a start“.

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