Labour policies aren root cause of 11 year high youth unemployment and record job market decline
Youth unemployment in Britain has climbed to a shocking 16.2 percent, the highest level in 11 years, but Starmer’s government continues to deny it's due to the fallout from its own tax raids
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show the jobs market declining sharply, with payrolls dropping by 100,000 in a single month, the steepest decline ever experienced outside the pandemic. This is not due to global markets nor ‘what they inherited’, it’s as a direct result of Labour’s tax raid on business and their spend policies.
The Scale of the Crisis Is Frightening
The number of 16 to 24 year olds out of work has surged since Labour took office. Overall unemployment has risen to 5 percent, while youth joblessness now exceeds many European averages, a reversal of recent trends where the UK was the envy of Europe. With Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, positioning himself as a potential leadership challenger, this only continues to highlight the internal Labour panic as Starmer’s popularity sinks.
Youth unemployment at 16.2 percent, highest since 2015.
Payroll employment fell sharply in April, and
Vacancies at their lowest since 2021.
Sectors like retail and hospitality, traditional entry points for young workers, hit hardest.
The Continued Overall Decline In Payroll Figures
The official reduction in payroll figures can be broken down as follows:
Overall Payroll Drops: Early estimates from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate a cumulative drop ranging between 100,000 and 240,000 payroll jobs since the summer of 2024.
Sector-Specific Declines: The drop has been heavily concentrated in high-street sectors like retail and hospitality, with bodies like UK Hospitality citing hundreds of thousands of jobs lost following the autumn budget and rising employer National Insurance contributions.
Youth & Entry-Level Employment: Reductions in the payroll numbers are highly generational, with a disproportionate impact on young workers. Data shows that nearly 200,000 younger employees (aged under 34) have disappeared from payrolls over this period.
Unemployment Rate: Reflecting this shrinking payroll workforce, the UK unemployment rate has ticked up to 5%.
Labour’s Tax Raid and Regulatory Burden
Starmer and Reeves imposed hefty National Insurance hikes on employers in the budget, alongside rises in the minimum wage and new workers’ rights measures. These policies raise the cost of hiring, particularly for young people whose productivity is still building. Businesses, especially small ones, are freezing recruitment or cutting entry level roles rather than risk extra costs.
This is classic Labour economic illiteracy. Higher employer taxes and rigid labour rules do not create jobs. They deter them but they cant understand this. The result is a generation of young Britons stuck on the sidelines, accumulating debt and losing skills while the government talks of a Youth Guarantee that looks increasingly hollow and just another stupid knee jerk reaction to their own failing policies. Alan Milburn, Labour’s own appointee, has called it a social disaster.
We have warned of this for months, the youth unemployment figures have born it out again and again. Labours attack on ‘evil’ businesses and business owners with billions in tax rises, despite the manifesto saying everything is full costed and funded, is causing severe consequences for millions that were entirely predictable. Business after business that traditionally employ younger workers are collapsing or closing from Claire’s accessories to River Island and TGI Friday.
Challenges to the Official Narrative
Labour ministers point to global pressures and claim overall employment remains steady but they are lying as the data tells a different story. Youth rates have worsened markedly under this government. Promises of apprenticeships and training opportunities have not materialised at the scale needed, while mass low skilled migration continues to compete with British school leavers for available work.
The education system funnels too many into degrees of questionable value, leaving them with debt and few practical skills. At the same time, policies that prioritise certain demographics through diversity quotas sideline talented young white British men who feel increasingly forgotten. This is not compassion. It is division that harms social cohesion and economic potential.
Restore Britain Is The Only Way
Britain cannot afford to write off its young people. A lost generation risks long term economic stagnation, higher welfare costs, and social unrest. Restore Britain offers a clear alternative rooted in freedom, fairness, and putting British workers first. Lower corporation tax to the most competitive rate in Europe to attract investment and spur hiring. Cut the regulatory burden on small businesses so they can take on apprentices and young staff without fear. Prioritise training and skills for our own people over reliance on foreign labour. Reduce welfare dependency with tough love, ensuring those who can work do work, freeing resources for genuine opportunity.
Rupert Lowe has spoken powerfully about restoring dignity through scrapping DEI, generating real jobs and ending the anti British biases that hold back our young men. Only by slashing taxes, controlling borders, and backing enterprise can we give the next generation the ladder they deserve.
Labour’s failures make the case for Restore Britain stronger by the day.