UCU condemns government plans for 'youth boot camps'

Government plans to force young people to take part in three-week 'boot camps' to receive benefits expose ministers lack of understanding of the problems too many young people face, said UCU today.

The union highlighted a report carried out by UCU and polling firm ComRes that warned how a third of young people not in employment or education fear they will never get a job, despite the vast majority of them wanting to work or train.

The survey of more than 1,000 young people from summer 2013 paints a startling picture of the reality of life for young people in England not working or training. While they are a highly diverse group with different needs, the overwhelming majority want to work or study (88%) and over two-thirds (71%) believe they would contribute a lot to society if they got the right support. 

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Government plans to force young people into work fundamentally fail to deal with the reasons that so many of them are unable to find work or are not in education and training.

'This government is already hitting young people through cuts to further education colleges' budgets, increased university fees and the abolition of grants. This latest idea looks like little more than another attack on the very people we should be striving to help.

'What young people need is politicians who have a plan to help them, not subject them to scapegoating. Rather than short-term gimmicks, our young people need a long-term commitment to proper guidance, meaningful educational opportunities and stable, properly rewarded jobs.'