英國啃老族羣體壯大 引政府擔憂

More than one in 10 UK teenagers has been left without a job or college place, despite 11 years of compulsory education, figures show.

The number of 16- to 18-year-olds branded as “Neet” – not in education, employment or training – has risen amid growing fears that school-leavers are bearing the brunt of job shortages in the recession.

Some 261,000 young people had no job or training place, according to official data. The figure rose to 1,082,000 among 16- to 24-year-olds.

The Conservatives branded the figures “shocking”.

David Willetts, the shadow skills secretary, said: "It is a damning indictment of the Government's failure to help young people during the recession.

“Despite all Gordon Brown's guarantees and pledges, the number of young people neither earning nor learning is increasing at a rate of more than 9,000 a week. Ministers must stop making empty gestures that do so little to help young people.”

The Government has a target to reduce the proportion of young Neets to 7.6 per cent by next year.

The latest annual data from the Department for Children, Schools and Families put the figure at 10.3 per cent by the end of 2008.

The percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds who fall into the same bracket remained higher in the past year than in the previous 12 months, it was revealed.

In a further disclosure, figures for the third quarter of this year show almost a fifth of 16 to 24-year-olds were in the category – more than at any point since 2005.

Iain Wright, the Schools Minister, said: "We are giving all 16 and 17-year-olds the opportunity to stay in education or training so they can gain the skills they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive labour market.

"We must not repeat the mistakes that were made in recessions of the past and abandon a whole generation of young people. We recognise that we need to carry on helping young people through this tough economic climate."

He said the Government would offer every Neet 16 and 17-year-old a place on an “Entry to Employment” course in January.

最新數據顯示，英國超過十分之一的青少年畢業後沒有工作或繼續讀大學——儘管他們已接受了十一年的義務教育。

這些既沒讀書、也沒工作或接受任何培訓的16歲至18歲的青少年被稱爲“啃老族”。隨着“啃老族”羣體的日趨壯大，人們越來越擔心這些輟學者在經濟衰退時期會首當其衝受到就業崗位減少的影響。

根據英國官方統計數據，目前英國約有21.6萬青年沒有工作或接受培訓。在16至24歲的人羣中，這一數字爲108.2萬。

英國保守黨稱這一數據“令人震驚”。

英國影子內閣的教育技能大臣大衛•威利茨說：“這是政府在經濟衰退時期沒能很好地幫助年輕人所釀成的嚴重後果。”

“儘管戈登•布朗首相做出了各種保證和承諾，但既沒有工作也沒在讀書的年輕人的數量正以每週九千多人的速度增長。政府官員們不要再開這種毫無意義的空頭支票了。”

英國政府計劃到明年將年輕的啃老族比例減至7.6%。

英國兒童、學校和家庭部的最新年度統計數據顯示，截至2008年年底，英國的啃老族比例達10.3%。

此外，過去一年16歲至18歲年齡段中的啃老族比例仍高於此前一年。

更多數據顯示，今年第三季度，在16歲至24歲的年輕人中，近五分之一的人是啃老族，創2005年以來最高水平。

英國學校事務大臣伊恩•懷特說：“我們將爲所有16歲至17歲的青少年提供接受教育或培訓的機會，以讓他們獲得所需技能，在競爭日益激烈的就業市場中立於不敗之地。”

“我們絕不能重複以往經濟危機時期所犯的錯誤，荒廢整整一代年輕人。我們認識到必須繼續幫助年輕人度過經濟困難時期。”

他表示，政府將於明年1月爲16歲至17歲的啃老族提供“進入職場”培訓。

Vocabulary:

bear the brunt of: 首當其衝

shadow：影子內閣，是英國最大的在野黨爲準備上臺執政而設的預備內閣班子。

indictment: a sign that a system, society, etc. is very bad or very wrong;the act of officially accusing sb of a crime（制度、社會等的衰敗跡象；控告，起訴）