Guardian to follow lives of eight young people in their search for work

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How long will it take? What challenges will they face? Series to shine light on one of biggest crises facing UK‘The social contract is broken’: young people on feeling shut out of…

How long will it take? What challenges will they face? Series to shine light on one of biggest crises facing UK

Britain is at risk of creating a lost generation. Across the country, almost a million young people – one in eight – are struggling to make the leap from school to the world of work on a lasting basis.

Before the landmark Alan Milburn review, which is expected on Tuesday, the Guardian is launching a new series to chronicle the lives of eight young people battling to get a start on the career ladder.

The eight, drawn from across the country, will share their stories of jobseeking in uncertain economic times, after the chaos of the Covid pandemic during their final years of education and with AI now upending the jobs market.

The series comes as Andy Burnham promises to restore hope for the next generation by helping more young people into work, with his government pushing to tackle the rise in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (Neet) to the highest level in a decade.

Each participant in the series will offer reflections on their dealings with employers and the welfare state.

The youngest is 20 and the oldest 26 – just outside the age range used to compile the official statistics, but critical to include as the revolving door on insecure work can have a lasting impact well beyond early adulthood.

The long-term scarring effects from being Neet can be profound. For those who reach the age of 24 without ever having worked, even if they re-enter the jobs market successfully they stand to lose up to £300,000 in earnings over their lifetime as a result.

For many the experience is one of endless job applications, rejection letters and outright ghostings by employers. Exacting a heavy financial and emotional toll, it is a situation made worse in a status-driven social media age.

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