Lasa: We welcome Osborne’s apprenticeships move

Work placements, apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities can all help young people to become productive members of society and increase their life chances. With almost one million young people out of work at the moment, there is a clear and pressing need for support to be made available to improve their life chances. It is not just young people who suffer if they do not have access to these opportunities. Government and our wider society will also be affected, as will the success of a “big society”.

In fact, the recession is already affecting more than young people’s employment prospects. Youth information and advice services across the country are reporting noticeable increases in youth homelessness, even before housing benefit cuts have taken effect. Also, most mental health problems start in childhood and adolescence. Failure to give young people access to timely and supportive help for their mental health is costly to them, their families and society too. The costs to the economy of poor adult mental health are estimated at £105 billion per year.

Lasa: We welcome Osborne’s apprenticeships move

I didn’t write the headline btw.