School leaving age should be raised to 18, says David Blanchflower
Garry Mon 26 Mar 2012 13:09
Former Bank of England adviser calls for measure to help combat rising youth unemployment.
The school leaving age should be raised to 18 to combat rising youth unemployment, a former economic adviser to the Bank of England has demanded.
David Blanchflower also suggests that firms in depressed regions such as Northern Ireland and the north-east of England should be allowed to hire young people without paying national insurance.
The economist will tell an international conference on young people in Belfast on Monday that youth unemployment is "the single biggest issue facing this government".
He will also warn that rising youth unemployment could be socially destabilising and create a reservoir of discontent that republican dissidents could exploit.
Prior to his speech at the Children in Conflict conference at the Europa hotel, Blanchflower said that while the coalition has a monetary policy, "they seem to have no regional policy".
The one-time member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee says he is "extremely concerned that all the good work and great achievements in Northern Ireland could be put at risk by youth unemployment".
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... (The Guardian - 25 March)