DWP: Higher youth employment will benefit all

The Department for Work and pensions has suggested that a higher rate of youth employment will benefit the country as a whole.

This comes as the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has recently argued that the nation's employment outlook is the toughest it has been in nearly 20 years.

Employment minister Chris Grayling and London mayor Boris Johnson have launched a new project that is hoped will go some way to help tackle this issue.

Under the terms of this pilot scheme, young Londoners who have not previously completed six months of paid employment must undertake valuable work experience so they can claim benefits.

Mr Grayling pointed to the example of several other countries that do not allow young people to claim any benefits at all until they have made contributions through work.

"This trial will give a clear idea of the impact of an approach that says, effectively, you can't get something back until you have put something in," the minister commented.