Young people living in rural areas are being disproportionately affected by rising youth unemployment, a new report reveals.
The recession has led to significant rises in the number of unemployed young people across the UK.
But according to a new report from the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), the workplace inclusion of those living in the countryside has seen a particularly sharp decline since the start of the economic downturn.
It found that since the start of the financial crisis in 2007, the proportion of young people not in education, training or employment (Neets) in rural areas has increased by more than a third, compared to a rise of one-fifth in urban areas.
This could be down to a number of factors, including high transportation costs in the countryside making it more expensive for young people to commute to a place of work or education, as well as the high cost to companies of delivering employment or training in less urban environments.
Dr Stuart Burgess, chairman of the CRC, hopes the report will “shine a light on one of the most important issues facing England’s rural areas – the future of its young people”.
He added: “The high number of young Neets across the country is clearly a matter of considerable concern for young people, communities and policy makers. I hope this report will be a catalyst for addressing the range of uniquely intractable barriers those in rural areas face.”
The CRC is now calling for the creation of a government minister for youth services to focus specifically on the issues facing young people across the UK.
“Currently there is no clear, overarching responsibility across government for securing the development and employment of young people in rural areas,” said the report.
“Consequently, insufficient consideration is being given to addressing the additional challenges associated with this in a coordinated and strategic way.”
It isn’t only a question of higher transport costs outside the connurbations limiting access to jobs for the young. The issue is often whether there IS any practical means of getting to potential employers for job hunters who cannot afford or do not have a car of their own.
Cycling to work often isn’t an option because it’s too dangerous (cycling along narrow, bendy country lanes mainly used by cars and small lorries is probably as risky as cycling along the “A” roads).
Six miles away from my home village in the next reasonably big town – but nowhere near its centre – there’s a very large industrial estate. Many of the jobs are unskilled, low wage ones and involve shift work.
There’s no bus transport that would get employees to the industrial estate by 9.00am, let alone earlier. There’s no bus back (even from the town centre) that leaves after 5.30pm. The bus service that is now available is facing cuts.
Long term, there’s an answer. New business planning applications have to declare whether it’s feasible for prospective employees to access the workplace by public transport. As things are at present, though, we’ve got an important local source of jobs which is only accessible to those who own / share the use of a car.