Across exams, school exclusions, university places, finding a job, average earnings, life expectancy and suicide risk, the statistics are clear – white, working-class young men and boys are left at the bottom time and again.
Tackling this is about tackling all disadvantage and engaging all young people. It’s about giving all our kids equal opportunities to succeed in life.
While the Government and others have singled out other groups for ‘positive discrimination’, the larger majority are being forgotten about. Did you know the Bank of England, MI5 and GCHQ all offer internship schemes that exclude white students?
Kids across East Yorkshire are no different. Their futures deserve to be as much of a priority.
However, rather than making it easier to employ young people, Rachel Reeves’s choices – her tax rises, business rates increases and employment law changes – have made it much, much harder. It is shocking that the number of young people claiming unemployment benefits in Bridlington and The Wolds is up 15% since Labour took office.
So I asked the Government Minister a question on this in Parliament this week and BBC Look North also invited me on to discuss the issue further.
