UK faces ‘economic catastrophe’ as young people are ‘rewired’ by smartphones, warns government’s jobs tsar
The government’s jobs tsar has warned Britain faces an “economic catastrophe” as young people have been “rewired” by smartphones. Alan Milburn was appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as chairman of the Young People and Work Report as hundreds of thousands of 16-24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (Neets). His interim report, set be published next week, will suggest that the “rising tide of mental ill-health, anxiety, depression, neurodiversity” is the main reason for high economic inactivity. Speaking to The Times, the former health secretary said young people “are not snowflakes or faking it”, but the rise in these issues could be linked to growing up in a digital age on social media. “The system is trapping people in worklessness rather than enabling them into work,” Mr Milburn told the paper. “We’re at a risk of just writing a whole generation off.” 729,000 16-24 year olds were not employed between January and March this year (PA Wire) The research also described a “bedroom generation” with many of those who had left school at 16 …
