There are now five times as many long term unemployed young people in North Lanarkshire.

New figures released in answer to a parliamentary question have revealed that the number of long term unemployed young people in Scotland has almost quadrupled in the last 12 months – and in North Lanarkshire, there are now over five times as many young people out of work for more than a year.

Motherwell and Wishaw MSP John Pentland said:

“These figures are devastating. We know that long periods of unemployment scar young people for life. Those affected will be at the back of the queue for jobs when the economy gets better and they simply cannot afford to wait. I know that North Lanarkshire Council is actively tackling the problem, but these figures suggest that the support from the Scottish Government is simply not enough to address the increasing scale of the problem.

“Young people thinking about improving their qualifications will also be faced by constraints imposed by cuts in further and higher education. What the country needs is a national Jobs Guarantee scheme like the Future Jobs Fund, but what we’ve got from the SNP is a piecemeal approach. It’s time the Scottish Government stepped up its efforts and started to take this issue more seriously.”

The number of North Lanarkshire 16-24 year olds out of work for more than a year and claiming jobseekers allowance has increased from 105 to 565 in the last year, and is now about a tenth of the Scottish total, which has increased from 1,520 to 5,635. The number of young people jobless for over six months in North Lanarkshire is now 1505.

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