THE number of young Scots dumped on the dole by Covid will more than double to 100,000 in weeks, a shock report warns — scarring a generation for decades.
Research carried out for ex-PM Gordon Brown’s Alliance for Full Employment predicts the current level of 44,000 under-25s out of work will rocket.
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Across the UK, it is feared up to one million in the 16 to 24 age bracket not in full-time education will be unemployed by the end of this month as the pandemic impact hits hard.
Mr Brown said the figures in labour market expert Professor Paul Gregg’s study will soon match or outstrip levels in the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher was in office.
He said it would mean a “whole generation starting their working lives losing out”, with long-term consequences.
Coronavirus Scotland: Scots have worked 6.7million fewer hours than last year as unemployment claims double
And in a plea to the Scottish and UK governments, he urged leaders to produce a joint plan to tackle the crisis. The former Labour chief said: “This winter, 100,000 young Scots are in need of support to find a job, or they face the prospect of a winter on the dole.
“This is a shocking figure, and a reminder of the toll that the pandemic is taking and they need support now. As someone who lived through the 1980s, I fear the impact on a generation of young people could be beyond anything we witnessed back then.”
Mr Brown called for a UK-wide summit involving Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the devolved leaders to address the “unprecedented” crisis.
He said: “Some will say this is too difficult to organise given the current breakdown in relationships between No10 and the regions and nations.
“But if we do not listen to what’s happening on the ground and mobilise all the resources of the UK — local and national — and work together to coordinate our response, we will fail a generation of young people as surely…
