Labour urges young people on benefits to sign up for British Army

'Good jobs paying good wages'

According to statistics, almost one million young people are not in education, employment or training and this has become a key focus group for ministers as they cut benefits and seek to bolster defence.

The 987,000 'Neets', one in eight of those aged 16 to 24, have been cited by Sir Keir Starmer as central to the 'moral' case for welfare reform. The figure has risen by 42 per cent in three years, as a decade of progress on youth employment goes into reverse.

Under welfare reforms announced this month, those aged 18 to 21 will be given a 'youth guarantee' offer of training or employment but face losing their benefits if they turn it down.

Ministers are also looking to bar those under 22 from claiming incapacity benefits, a move that could cost 66,000 people thousands of pounds a year, in an attempt to incentivise them to take work.

Most Neets are young men and only a minority of them are actively seeking employment.

Meanwhile, the government has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, up from the current level of 2.3 per cent. Ministers are keen to use the additional funding to attract more recruits.

Speaking on armed forces recruitment, former British Army Colonel Philip Ingram told JOE: "The problem is, in today's society, whenever you have got very low unemployment and high job opportunities, then getting people to come and join the military is really quite difficult.

"It's always been difficult, but whenever you've got very high unemployment and low job opportunities, recruitment tends to be very good indeed."

The army currently has about 71,300 people — the fewest since the Napoleonic era. Of these personnel, only 55,005 are considered fully deployable, meaning able to serve without medical restrictions.

The current target for the army is 73,000.

The Royal Navy has missed its recruitment targets for sailors and commandos every year for more than a decade. Figures disclosed last October revealed the navy had met only 60 per cent of its recruitment target in 2023, when 2,450 people signed up against a target of 4,040.

According to the latest data covering the 12 months to 30 September 2024, the average time between application and starting basic training was 249 days for the Army, 279 days for the Royal Navy and 301 days for the Royal Air Force, which is another issue affecting the forces.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves told ITV: "In the changed world we face today, there are opportunities for good jobs in our armed forces, but also in the defence sector that produces the tanks, the machinery, the ships that our armed forces use.

"And of course, as this government increases the amount of money spent on defence, it’s going to be more good jobs paying decent wages in that sector."

More training opportunities are being examined to incentivise the public to sign up, a military source said.

Army officers are also pushing for more reservist centres to be opened so soldiers and officers do not have to travel as far to carry out training.