The lowdown on employment levels and why they are improving

Just several years ago, the unemployment rate for the UK was over 8%. Since then, it has dropped significantly and suffice to say, this hasn’t occurred through random reasons.

Sure, we’d be lying if we didn’t mention the perilous state of the economy during the 8% period, but there are other reasons why this figure is constantly dropping.

Here, we’ll take a look at these – or specifically some of the policies which are in place which seem to be fueling employment levels through the country.

Schemes like the Skills Development Fund

One of the first factors we’ll discuss isn’t specifically a policy, but a scheme related to developing personal skills. The skills development fund is worth £5m and targets individuals that need a little extra help to progress with their employment opportunities.

For example, some of their investments have focused on preventing individuals offending and re-offending, while others have looked to support girls and women hone their skills.

In all of the investments, the aim is to make the individual more employable.

The change in participation age

In terms of a policy, things changed hugely in 2013 when the decision was made to ensure that young people either stayed in education or training until they were 17. The fact that this has now increased to 18-years-old highlights how important the government view this now.

It’s another one of those initiatives that has aimed to make people more “employable”. Additionally, the nature of this policy means that we might not necessarily see the bigger returns for a few more years, but it certainly seems to have provided a small boost for the time being.

Government subsidies for the unemployed

This next policy is one that probably has the most direct effect on unemployment. The government offer businesses a payment of up to £2,275 if they are able to employ any young person who has been claiming JSA for at least six months.

The benefits of this are naturally immense. Sure, that figure isn’t going to cover a full salary by any stretch, but it’s still a monumental contribution and particularly for young people (aged between 18 and 24 for this subsidy), it can still take up a large portion of their salary.

Apprenticeship schemes

The return of apprenticeships has been quite incredible over the last few years. For a long time they were popular, but they also had something of a stigma attached to them.

Now, the view has changed considerably. There are hundreds of apprenticeships available for people to complete and to go against the stereotype, not all of these are of physical nature. It means that there are countless more opportunities for young people, and the fact that over half a million apprenticeship schemes were started in 2013 highlights how successful this approach has been. In some ways they have been made “fashionable” again, which may have once appeared to be very unlikely considering some of their initial restrictions.