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3rd March 2021
05:07pm GMT

Data from the Office for National Statistics found that more 16-24 year olds have fallen out of employment than any other age group.
And, in the three months leading up to November, data shows that redundancies among 25-34 year olds are five times higher than the same period last year, at 16.2 per 1,000.
Hospitality, which has a higher proportion of younger workers, has unsurprisingly been hit hardest by Covid restrictions as the virus forced restaurants and pubs to close.
And, with over 4.5 million people on the furlough scheme, millions of jobs still hang in the balance.
Furthermore, recent Universal Credit figures, which many young people are relying on to pay the bills, show that over 20 million Brits relying on it will be in financial hardship by May.So did Rishi Sunak’s Budget today offer some reprieve?
In middle of the worst recession in over three hundred years, it was always going to be a tall order.
The commitment to extend the furlough scheme will be warmly welcomed, although it’s difficult to see why it wasn’t announced earlier - given the Treasury trailed it yesterday.
Providing certainty months ago may have saved jobs and prevented unnecessary redundancies. And the small print on businesses battered by the pandemic being required to foot 10 per cent of the bill in July, and 20 per cent in August and September, likely won't go down well.
The self-employed were provided with some reprieve in the form of grants. But, with only 600,000 set to benefit, it still leaves millions without support and, more worryingly, the Chancellor declined to make the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift permanent.
The government’s commitment of £2.8 million for a 2030 World Cup bid will lift the spirits of football fans up and down the UK, giving people something to look forward too. And for the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, £410 million is set to be made available for arts, culture, and heritage sites - which have taken a battering during the pandemic.
Many will argue the Chancellor’s budget didn’t go far enough, and few would suggest we shouldn’t start working out how we’re going to pay for it all.
After a flurry of speculation from politicians and economists alike, Sunak made it clear in his Budget today that "now is not the right time to raise taxes." Strangely, this is likely to be music to Labour’s ears - who last week said they opposed any tax rises in the budget to help pay for the pandemic.
The question of tax policy, however, is far from over, with rises now widely viewed as an inevitability. After 10 years of austerity, what's left to cut?
It’s not a matter of "this is it" but more of a "to be continued," and for young people in the UK, there's a lot to be desired.
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