The long term financial wellbeing of young people is under threat if they continue to bear the brunt of redundancies caused by the pandemic, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.
The investment firm was commenting on figures from the Office for National Statistics which revealed a long-term decline in the number of younger people in employment.
The figures showed a decline of 197,000 between September 2016 and September 2020 and a further decline of 201,000 between September 2020 and September 2021.
Commenting on the data, Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said this was one long term trend that needed to stop.
“The number of 16-24-year-olds in employment declined 197,000 between September 2016 and September 2020 and then took a further battering in 2020-21 as this group took the brunt of pandemic redundancy,” she said.
“While the number of vacancies remains high it would appear this group does not have the skills or experience to fill them.
“If this continues, this group’s long-term financial resilience will be threatened – milestones such as home ownership are already a challenge but will become a near impossibility if people are unable to save.”
Morrissey highlighted that having a job also means being given access to valuable workplace benefits.
“We must hope the turbulence of the pandemic does not undermine people’s long-term financial resilience,” she added.