Why Are Young People Giving Up on Work? | IEA Podcast

About this episode

The episode discusses the reasons behind young people's disengagement from the workforce, examining economic policies and the impact of AI on employment.

In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, host Callum Price is joined by Managing Editor Daniel Freeman and Energy Analyst Andy Mayer to discuss the latest UK unemployment data, the impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market, and the Government’s recent energy market reforms. The episode opens with the latest jobs figures, which showed unemployment falling to 4.9% — but with the bulk of that drop driven by people leaving the workforce altogether rather than finding work. The panel examine the role of the Employment Rights Act, rising employer National Insurance contributions, and the equalisation of the minimum wage for younger workers, arguing these policies have made hiring significantly more expensive and are contributing to rising economic inactivity, particularly among 18 to 24 year olds. The panel also touch on the Unite Union staff strike against their own union and the broader implications of expanded trade union access rights. A new Centre for American Progress report on AI and the UK labour market is then assessed, finding little disruption to employment so far, with the counterintuitive example of programming jobs actually rising since the rollout of…

People in this episode

Host: Callum Price

Guests: Daniel Freeman, Andy Mayer

Topics covered

• UK unemployment
• artificial intelligence
• labour market
• economic inactivity
• employment policies
• trade unions
• energy market reforms

Keywords

• unemployment
• economic inactivity
• AI impact
• labour market reforms
• minimum wage
• National Insurance
• trade unions
• renewables
• staff strike

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute of Economic Affairs, Unite Union, Centre for American Progress

Books & works: Employment Rights Act, AI and the UK labour market, renewables obligation system

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