Youth unemployment costing £2m a week

A MAJOR charity has warned that youth unemployment is costing Scotland £2 million a week – or almost £12,000 an hour – and is set to rise further.

The report by The Prince's Trust has pointed out that in just one year Scotland has seen a startling 72 per cent rise in 18 to 24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.

It means 37,000 18 to 24-year-olds now get Jobseeker's Allowance across Scotland alone. The report also warns that the figures are set to rise much further, with young people from deprived areas being hit hardest.

The evidence put forward by the charity ties in with a debate raging in Holyrood since the last Scottish budget.

Labour have pushed for more guaranteed apprenticeships to be paid for out of the Scottish budget and managed to negotiate 8,000 for the current financial year. But there have been questions over whether the apprenticeships are being delivered quickly enough.

SNP ministers have insisted that they are doing everything they can with limited funds to tackle the issue.

A spokesman for Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "We have brought forward £95 million in European funding, which will help support around 75,000 training places across Scotland, and we have increased funding by a massive 37 per cent, helping organisations grow and become more enterprising."

He added: "Scotland is weathering the recession better than the rest of the UK – with higher employment and lower unemployment than south of the Border – and we will continue to do everything in our power to fight recession."

However, economists warned that charities aimed at getting young people into work such as The Prince's Trust are facing a squeeze, especially in Scotland.

Professor Cathy Pharoah, of London's Cass Business School, said: "Vulnerable young people will suffer where need is greatest, as youth charities struggle to keep up with demand during the recession."

The charity set up by Prince Charles to help disadvantaged young people fulfil their potential fears that the downturn will leave many young people permanently trapped in "persistent disadvantage". Geraldine Gammell, director for The Prince's Trust in Scotland, said: "We must pull together to avoid the long-term consequences of another lost generation in Scotland.

"With a 50 per cent increase in demand for our services, we know that this is a generation which is willing and actively seeking routes into employment.

"Local and national government are building economic recovery plans, but more is needed to help those vulnerable groups of young people in Scotland."

Across the UK, funds for such youth causes currently represent just 1 per cent of the voluntary sector's total income of £48 billion, capturing just 1.5 per cent of private donations.

The Prince's Trust estimates that charitable trusts' donations to youth charities will fall by nearly £8 million if the UK economy shrinks by 3.8 per cent in 2009 as predicted by the International Monetary Fund .