Do young adults in the UK not want to work?
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I think it also largely depends on how you've been brought up.
I started work at 17, full time, horrible jobs that I hated but I still worked with a smile and got my salary to pay my bills. If I had sat on my *kitten* accepting benefits my parents would be so ashamed and disappointed in me - It's just not how I or they were raised. I even had a job on a milk round when I was 13 to EARN pocket money, I wasn't given a penny, I had to work for it.
There are a lot of youth these days who don't want to work simply because they have not been raised with that sense of pride, or of course, because they are better off having 4 children and being on benefits than being in full time employment.
I think that's at the crux of it.
Most NEETs come from generations of non-working households. That poverty of ambition is the norm.
My parents left school without qualifications. Dad drove articulated lorries and mum worked in a factory. I don't think it was their dream job but it put a roof over our heads and food on the table. I did many rubbish jobs as a young person including night shifts in a newspaper printing factory to support myself through University, but that's just what it took. My parents were uneducated, unqualified but had a good work ethic. Maybe that makes the difference.
Except that its bollocks.
I have been out of work once in my adult life for two months. Do you know how hard it is to claim JSA? I had to go to Ringwood to sign on (thats about 8 miles away - my nearest bus would have been 3 miles away, so I would have had to walk three miles, get on 2 buses at a cost of over a fiver to start with if I didn't have a car.....) I went to sign on and I didn't get one single penny because I had informed them that my contract was ending on the monday, the previous wednesday so I had been *in work* at the time. This meant apparently that because of my forward planning, I wasn't entitled to anything that month.....the following month they were still querying my claim and I had to go back to the jobcentre a further three times (at a further cost of £15 if I hadn't got a car...). By the time I found work it was still ongoing and I wasn't entitled to back-claim because Id found work.....
Basically if I didn't already have a car and savings, I would have been stuffed - and I have been paying into the system all my life.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience with JSA when you truly needed it. Nowhere did I slate the benefit system. But there are *some* youth of today who know how to work the system and have endless children for child tax credit, child benefit, have most of, if not all of their rent paid for by the government.
There is a difference between people who NEED benefits, such as yourself when you lost your job and those who do not want to work because they can earn more money being on benefits and have no sense of pride or work ethic to encourage them to work for minimum wage.
The benefit system should not be a choice in my opinion, and unfortunately a lot of youth today consider it a 'career'0 -
I think you need to educate yourself on the massive issue in this country, the devastating effect it will have on the baby boomer leeches and the fact that we have created a lost generation, before you add to the situation with your bad attitude.
If, like the OP you want to start a 'generation war' this would be the place to start, IMO. The 'baby boomer' generation came out of the war with all the benefits that the pervious generation fought for in the war itself and in the labour movement. They were brought up in a time of massive labour shortage - so you could literally walk out of school and get a 'job for life'. A quote from Tom Jones of all people on his life post-school in Pontypridd: "If you dint have a job, you didn't want a job"
They reaped the benefit of a free university education with grants thankyouverymuch to further their careers and cheap property prices to effect their own middle-class landgrab.
Since they came of an age to wield political power, all they have done is pull the ladder up after them and hastily widen the wealth gap by waging a war on the following generations ("appreniceship/intern" schemes where you work literally for nothing, made possible by weak unions), buying up houses as fast as they can to keep the price artifcially high, removing free university places, cutting benefits, selling the NHS....
And then they have the termerity to moan about the younger generations for lacking motivation within the new dystopia they are trying to create.
I think my generation (x not y) has more in common with the generation prior to the baby boomers...except our generation sees no value in the labour movement and seem to seek instead to find emancipation on an individual rather than a collective basis, which is ultimatlely the path that the 'individualist' boomers blazed.....0 -
I am very fortunate in that I have a business that is relatively successful in the UK
This last few weeks I have been holding interviews to fill a position..the wage is only slightly above minimum wage, but, it is a little above.
I am looking to train this person up into a better skill.
I have not been looking for a rocket scientist or brain surgeon, just someone that would seem to have reliability and some work ethic.
5 people never bothered to turn up for the interviews...3 were late... 1 had the mother phone up to make an excuse.. a few people turned up wearing jeans....2 people actually told me they had to come for the interviews or they would lose their entitlement to social security benefits...
I was hoping to try to help someone from benefits into the workplace. Is it that young adults do not want to work?
award a liveable , working salary and then try again.0 -
There is a difference between people who NEED benefits, such as yourself when you lost your job and those who do not want to work because they can earn more money being on benefits and have no sense of pride or work ethic to encourage them to work for minimum wage.
The benefit system should not be a choice in my opinion, and unfortunately a lot of youth today consider it a 'career'
Except that you can't earn more money on benefits (£60/week). The dispondency comes when a wage is offered that is little different to claiming JSA. You are still poor, but you spend your time at work. The actual problem is that todays youth then think 'bollocks to this, Id rather have a little less and my time is my own" rather than than "this is **** - lets organise and withdraw labour collectively until we are paid more" - and that is the difference between gen Y and the war generation.
Of course, the former is far less dangerous and less likley to upset the status quo - so nobody minds too much...0 -
I hate this thread it's completely ageist and everything that sets back my generation in the workplace.
F U
There isn't a problem with ALL young people, but there is problem with the employability of a great many young people when they leave school and that's not being 'ageist', it's an issue acknowledged and accepted by ALL UK political parties and every single organisation that represents business.
It doesn't mean that young people are rubbish; it means that somewhere along the line a good number of them are not being equipped with the skills they need in the workplace during their education. And I'm not talking about niche skills to do a particular job - but basic skills such as numeracy, literacy and good communication.0 -
award a liveable , working salary and then try again.
....except that I have the same experience as the Op when hiring and I'm paying the national average wage. So what's the issue there?0 -
I'm 19 and work 39 hours a week - i usually work around 4 hours overtime voluntarily (I have no idea why). I love my job and cannot imagine what i would do if i was out of work!
I've worked since i was 16 so even before i left school i was working weekends and increased this during term time. I even gave up college to gain full time employment and make a career for myself, no one was going to do it for me. I now work within Human Resources and dress appropriately, my employer is now sponsoring me at university.
Unfortunately our benefits system has loop holes and i know people who are paid more than me not to work! Some of the girls i used to go school with have had a baby and they have been given a house (rent free) and benefits on top, whilst I'm working my bum off to pay for what they are getting for free.
I do not think it is just the younger generation.0 -
I think many unemployed persons want to find a job that they "like" and that is "fun". They are kind of missing the point that this isn't the primary purpose of working.
My sister is 45 and had this attitude. She's still looking. I get very cross about it you have such a circular argument with people with this sense of entitlement.
I would take it from the OP comments, if people didn't bother to show up, they also didn't bother to have the manners to contact her to reschedule. If they had a decent excuse they would have done that. So not bothering is, well , not bothering. There are not many things (well maybe a death in the family) that are good enough excuses to not go to a job interview.
So your opinion is that people just need to do something they hate for majority of there time, just to struggle to have a place to sleep, and eat so they can wake up the next day and do the same thing they hate? Meanwhile the persons they work for have risen above that struggle by having others do the hated work for them?
Yes. It's called working your way up.
Unfortunatlly it is near impossible to work your way up for the average human. Evidence in how many "poor" people there are to those in "middle class" and "rich". When humans make a decision they weight the risk vs reward of the situation. If the job you are looking at acomplishing provides to much risk and little reward then you will choose not to take that job, if you do you are unhappy about doing it. If you spend 32hours + working and can only afford part of the security needed (food, water, airable land, shelter, entertainment, health, retirment) then the risk is already to high and you will be unhappy. I know what your thinking, it is better to work and afford food and shelter at least to stay alive... and be miserable, and build frustrations that you take out on your family, loved ones.
http://i.imgur.com/JbuoV.jpg0 -
This makes me both angry and sad.
Can I have the job you're offering please?!
What makes me angry is that I am being lumped into the group of 'young adults in the UK who don't want to work and are on benefits'.
I have countless qualifications, skills and experience. I have an Honours degree in English, published work, a history of previous employment and a damn good work ethic. But this appears to be holding me back in the workplace. I am now self-employed, as I couldn't stand the fact that I had been graduated for a whole year, yet couldn't get work anywhere. I had to start my own business through the job centre (through the enterprise allowance scheme), but as they only give you around 20 weeks to make your business successful before stopping your enterprise allowance, this means that I am simply going to have to go straight back on to job seekers when the funding ends. 20 weeks is not long enough to make an editing business work, when the majority of your custom is through word of mouth. I've read that it takes most freelancers at least a year to achieve a steady (albeit, low) income.
Since graduating I have probably applied for 3-4 jobs a week, and enquired about even more than that. 3-4 jobs a week for a whole year adds up! Why did NONE of these employers want me? I started to question my own skills and ability... was I really not qualified enough for cleaning toilets in my local pub? Did I lack the necessary expertise to serve food adequately, despite having a plethora of previous experience and training? I literally applied for ANY job, half of which I didn't hear a single word back from.
During one interview, for an estate agent, the employer mentioned my degree. Finally, I thought, a chance to talk about what I'm actually qualified in! I figured a lot of the skills I acquired throughout University would be transferable; communication and organisation, for example. Yet all they wanted to know was if I was planning on doing anything with my degree, such as becoming a teacher. At that moment in time, I genuinely didn't have a specific career path planned out, I just wanted a job there and now, so I said no. They must not have believed me, because in the feedback I was given I was told that it was 'clear through [my] qualifications that I did not plan on having a future with the company and that [they] had found someone much more suited to the position, long-term'.
That interview seemed to spark a lot more honesty during subsequent interviews. A lot of employers were completely blunt about the fact that they didn't want to hire me because I had a degree, therefore had no real desire to work for them long term. I even had one employer phone me up and give me the condition that I would be granted an interview, only if I dedicated myself to their company (I can't quite remember what the job was, I think it was a £1 shop). It's understandable that businesses would want to hire someone who genuinely wants to work for them, but it's highly frustrating and demotivating for me, knowing that I could've had a job if I just hadn't gone to University.
The job centre suggested I didn't include my degree on my CV. Wow. So, Nadine, what have you done in the past four years where there is a gigantic gap on your CV?! Nothing? Oh, you seem like a very motivated individual, we'd love to hire you!... Not happening!
So, now I'm in a heap of debt, with a struggling business, no work on the horizon, no one even willing to give me a chance, and I face going back on the dole in a couple of months. Then I'll have to deal with the shame of walking into the job centre, feeling like a lazy, good for nothing, scrounger, because I know that's precisely what most people are thinking.
There are no job opportunities in my field where I live. I've looked in England for English-related work, which is more promising - but the salaries are not NEARLY enough for it to be feasible that I move down there.. I wouldn't even be able to afford rent! I've resorted to looking abroad. I have the option of teaching English as a foreign language in North Korea. At the moment, it's looking more inviting than spending another second in Scotland, unemployed.
So please don't feel like all of us young adults don't want to work. I would give anything to be employed, and not wasting away my days feeling useless.
(ETA - a job vacancy recently came up that was literally my dream job... it was only working in a bookstore, but compared to all the jobs I'd applied for that were 'just jobs', this was a blessing. I wrote the best application I've ever written, I cannot express how much I wanted this job... but I didn't get an interview, based on the fact that someone else was better qualified for the job. Which is fair enough, I'm not claiming I'm in any way the best for the job. But I have an English degree, I run a book club, I have sales experience, published work, I'm an editor and writer, and I have a passion for reading... I don't understand why I wasn't even suitable for an interview
What more can I do?!) 0 -
Unfortunately our benefits system has loop holes and i know people who are paid more than me not to work! Some of the girls i used to go school with have had a baby and they have been given a house (rent free) and benefits on top, whilst I'm working my bum off to pay for what they are getting for free.
That is because of this crazy notion that the baby they are having should not have to suffer because of the choices of their parent.
Good for you for working, but it isn't the be all and end all. I have worked either part-time alongside study or full time since I was 14. I don't think it makes me better or worse than anyone else.0 -
Can't say I agree with everything being said here, but yes, the system must be there when you need it. However, I know of several companies who are looking to recruit people in various roles from basic admin through to highly technical. All are struggling to fill them because of the general lethargy of younger people and the questionable level of education. The jobs are there if people want them - they just have to put in the effort. Turning up is a good place to start!! Parents providing motivation is another, but the money has to stack up!0
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I hope that is meant to be sarcastic - the real answer on how to be rich is to have money to begin with. Capital begets capital.0 -
Sorry, but the minimum wage is just not worth it - especially for an out-of-work graduate.
Who needs long hours AND no money? I'd rather have £50 less a week and live on benefits, personally.
You get what you pay for, ref: peanut/monkey calculation.0 -
I worked when I was younger I quit working at a fast food place because I snapped at the manager for being a condescending ***** I am not going to work for minimum wage to be belittled and treated like a piece of **** on the bottom of someone's shoe. I would rather live in a cardboard box. I apply for jobs and always get these stupid ****ing commission things I have to sell people stuff and I have anxiety and freak out when I have to talk to strangers. I have not showed up for interviews before because the way my mind gets doesn't allow me to leave the house when I get nervous of people.0
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not sarcastic at all, that's actually very accurate. for example: if you really wanted to be rich you'd be doing something other than arguing on the MyFitnessPal forums right now.
I hope that is meant to be sarcastic - the real answer on how to be rich is to have money to begin with. Capital begets capital.
and that's not the "real" answer, but it's an answer.0 -
not sarcastic at all, that's actually very accurate. for example: if you really wanted to be rich you'd be doing something other than arguing on the MyFitnessPal forums right now.
I hope that is meant to be sarcastic - the real answer on how to be rich is to have money to begin with. Capital begets capital.
and that's not the "real" answer, but it's an answer.
Its an answer based on no real understanding of basic economics or the workings of capital, its based on an ideal - the ideal that if we all work hard then we will definitley be rich.
Its horse****. Capitalism would collapse in an instant if that were true.0 -
i agree, your assessment of your own answer "the real answer on how to be rich is to have money to begin with" is accurate - the statement is based on no real understanding of basic economics or the working of capital
not sarcastic at all, that's actually very accurate. for example: if you really wanted to be rich you'd be doing something other than arguing on the MyFitnessPal forums right now.
I hope that is meant to be sarcastic - the real answer on how to be rich is to have money to begin with. Capital begets capital.
and that's not the "real" answer, but it's an answer.
Its an answer based on no real understanding of basic economics or the workings of capital, its based on an ideal - the ideal that if we all work hard then we will definitley be rich.
Its horse****. Capitalism would collapse in an instant if that were true.
people should quit complaining about where they are and do something about it instead0 -
award a liveable , working salary and then try again.
*lightbulb moment*
I got it. Put an ad in the job centre offering the same position at YOUR income. You'll get hundreds of applicants and be able to hire someone FABULOUS: qualified; enthusiastic; and responsible - to shovel the shet... and you can live on the minimum wage instead, but STILL be the boss with your own office and a swivelling, leather chair? How does that sound? Everybody wins!0 -
"Rich" is relative.
Compared to my parents I am relatively rich. They used to about break even every month, I have money spare. I own my house, they rented etc. That was achieved through nothing other than effort, not inheritance.0 -
I hate this thread it's completely ageist and everything that sets back my generation in the workplace.
F U
Classy. If you are going to reply then why not offer a more constructive opinion about your generation and the workplace to help us understand how it sets you back?
What's so classy about tarring all young people in the UK with the same brush and calling them lazy?
I don't see why exactly we should have to prove over and over that we are worth something to people like you who clearly have the wrong attitude. There are barely any spaces in today's job market for a real career for young people.
If you want to make a real career for yourself, despite working in any job you can get your hands on as soon as you are able to work, despite excellent GCSEs, A-Levels and a Degree, we now are expected to work for free, slave labour for a year until we are even allowed to have a half respectable job making a cup of tea and wiping the boss' *kitten* at a decent company. Do you know what that means? Rich parents to support you and a bit of 'who you know'. Or just work in a call centre.
It's so dissapointing, and what makes it worse is how you are promised the world at school and university. Genuinely I was told time and time again, if I work hard, get a good degree I can do whatever I want. I really didn't doubt for a second that I wouldn't have any problem walking out of university and then walking into a journalism internship leading to a job. Instead I've been a temp admin assistant and data entry clerk for 2 years. I'm trying to get out of administration now, but it is near impossible. I'm being turned down for roles in admin, as they want 'someone with at least 10 years experience in admin'.. Do you see anything wrong with that? Basically they don't want someone who is under 30 working for them. How would it feel if everyone barred people over 30 from getting into work. But wait, that wouldn't happen because it was easier to get a job then, you've already got the positions and your bum imprint is firmly pressed into that office chair.
There are 1 million unemployed young people in the UK. It is depressing and frustrating, and the fact that we have a massively ageing population and people are retiring later means that it is the older generation who take up the spaces in the work place, making it hard for anyone in this generation to get a look in. Did you know that in 2017, the amount of people in this country who are 15 - 19 years old will drop by 7.1%? That is massive.
I think you need to educate yourself on the massive issue in this country, the devastating effect it will have on the baby boomer leeches and the fact that we have created a lost generation, before you add to the situation with your bad attitude.
ETA: Before you accuse me of having an entitled attitude, I have worked my *kitten* off on the shop floor after school from the age of 16 until I finished my degree at 21 as well as caring for my mum who was ill whilst I was doing my degree away from home. My usual record of unemployment is 2 weeks until I have found a job until this time. I have come back from Australia 1 month ago (working out there and travelling for 9 months) and am having such a hard time getting a job and all I get is messed around by interviewers and agencies it's beyond disgusting. I'm slipping into depression because of it. And for the record I have never claimed benefits, my dad would be mortified, I come from a very hard grafting working class family.
Good luck finding a job. I agree its a horrible market. I wish the young generation weren't lied to about uni being the be all and end all. My partner is 25 and has his own company, he has done this off his own back and left school at 16. He trained in his chosen career and is so successful. I on the other hand was forced into uni and ended up teaching... Now I'm a stay at home mummy and my partner earns well enough that i don't need to work. But i have had jobs since i was 13 years old and sometimes 2 while i was at uni.
age doesn't mean a thing and neither does uni these days. If i was to say anything to young people it's find a vocation and train in it.0
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