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1m out of work by end of 2012

Research indicates that by the end of 2012, almost a million people will have been out of work for more than a year.

Think tank IPPR believes that numbers of people out of work for more than 12 months will rise by a further 107,000 by the end of the year to 962,000 - the highest figure since the end of 1995.

If predictions by the Office of Budget of Responsibility are correct, this will be the tenth consecutive month that the total of individuals out of work has risen.

UK unemployment rates are currently as 8.4% - the highest levels for 17 years - but this is predicted to rise further to 8.7% by the end of the summer.

According to IPPR, unemployment will peak at 2.75 million, and the proportion of those unemployed for more than a year is likely to go back up to the peak witnessed at the start of 2011.

Tony Dolphin, IPPR Chief Economist, said: “Long-term unemployment is the hidden crisis of the slowest ever economic recovery in the UK.

“While the ‘Youth Contract’ is designed to help young people out of work for more than a year, the ‘Work Programme’ has only been able to secure employment for about a third of jobseekers on the programme.

“On current progress, just two-thirds of people out of work for a year will not get work in the following two years. Government policy is not keeping pace with joblessness.”

The IPPR also believes that unemployment is unlikely to fall until mid-2013. They are increasingly concerned by the statistics, as anecdotal evidence suggests that being out of work for more than a year can have a damaging effect on an individual’s health and well-being, as well as their capacity to get a job.

“This means that even when employment starts to pick up again, they will find it hard to compete with other jobseekers and could find themselves permanently shut out of the jobs market.” Dolphin added.

The IPPR is now calling on the Government to do more to combat unemployment and address the North/ South jobs divide.

He concluded: “The government should guarantee everyone who has been unemployed for more than a year a job at the minimum wage in local government or the voluntary sector.

“But with that right should come the responsibility to take that job or risk losing their benefits.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .