Frances Millar

To be frank...

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SATURDAY jobs have been in decline since Covid and Rachel Reeves' tax hikes are making it worse.

Gone are the days when a teenager could wander into the nearest hairdressers and immediately be handed a broom.

Now, fewer than one in five 16and 17-year-olds are in work, compared with nearly half at the start of the century. Around a million people aged 16-24 are classed as NEET (not in education, employment or training) and bosses complain school leavers are useless when they start work because they've had no entry-level experience.

With wage costs rising, employers are less willing to take a punt on a teenager who needs spoon-feeding. From April, the hourly rate for 16and 17-year-olds rises to £8, while the 18-20 rate jumps to £10.85. A pay boost is good on paper, and nobody should work for free, but if businesses respond by cutting shifts or hiring fewer staff, young people are still losing out.