What a week to be a current affairs junkie!
One thing I’m concerned about is the suggestion that Brexit is bad news for young people.
Whilst I’m no longer in my twenties and whilst I am genuinely saddened that the concept of “Europe” hasn’t seemed to have worked for my country, I think this doom and gloom idea is nonsense.
As I see it, the irony is that young people face a far greater imposition to their “free movement” here at home, but aren’t anywhere near as engaged with the issue as they might be. They might not know it, but their greatest problem lies at home, not in Brexit.
We don’t yet know if opportunities will diminish when we leave the EU in the future, but we do know today that employers are dissatisfied with levels of work-readiness amongst school leavers and graduates. We know that a majority of employers do not consider careers advice in school to be fit for purpose.
We know that some politicians are concerned about the mis-alignment of interests for schools and pupils in terms of careers advice. We know that schools are being encouraged to improve the quality of careers provision.
We know that youth unemployment in the UK is higher than overall unemployment. We know that social mobility is affected by access to work experience and internships, and that these opportunities are not rationed in a fair way.
We know that only about 10% of graduates get a graduate level job. We know that the calculations underpinning student debt anticipate that many will never earn enough to repay their loan. We also know that this rate of anticipated failure is no longer published!!
We know that the Government expect young people to fend for themselves with regard to career-planning and self-investment. We know that many young people are unaware of this requirement.
All of these things affect young people and their ability to get started in life everyday and immediately.
In my opinion, based on having studied and worked “in” Europe*, the opportunities that young people in the United Kingdom stand to lose by Brexit aren’t as precious as the chance to start working life debt-free and adequately prepared.
If you, or a young person you know, wants to learn how to resolve this glaring injustice, please connect with bizenko.
*PS – the image comes from the university city of Leuven in Belgium. As the image suggests, the city is also famous for beer; it is the home of AB Inbev, he world’s largest brewer (think Stella Artois). I can vouch that it is a fantastic university and city, and that they welcome students from all corners of the globe.
