Youth unemployment is a health time bomb according to WHO review.

Youth unemployment is a ‘public health time bomb’ according to new research from the World Health Organisation.

Young people not in education, employment or training, have risen to more than 1 million in the UK.

There is a large range of health risks associated with even a short period of unemployment.

In the short term depression and suicide rises sharply amongst the unemployed, while in the long term chronic illnesses such as cancer increase.

“Unemployment, particularly the persistent high levels of youth unemployment, is a public health time bomb waiting to explode,” said Professor Sir Michael Marmot, who led the review.

He continued: “I would say to any government that cares about the health of its population: look at the impact of their policies on the lives people are able to lead and, more importantly, at the impact on inequality. Health inequality kills. It is socially unjust, unnecessary and avoidable, and it offends against the human right to health,”

Whilst unemployment in general is declining, the number of people aged 18 - 24 who are unemployed is storing up for a public health crisis in 10 to 20 years time.

Wealth is one of the biggest contributors to general health and life expectancy making the unemployment trend particularly worrying.

The government has made recent efforts to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training with some early signs of success in pilot schemes. However an active solution is still a little way off.
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said it was "really encouraging" that the numbers of young people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance was falling, but "we're not complacent - we'll continue to do everything possible to give young people the best chance in life".

Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on on youth unemployment, said: “With still almost a million young people out of work, this out-of-touch and incompetent Government is letting down a whole generation. Leaving young people on the dole for years on end is unacceptable and unaffordable. Labour would guarantee a job for every young person unemployed for a year - a job they would have to take.”

The report is the culmination of three years of research across Europe into what aspects of society have the biggest impact on general health and life expectancy.

Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said of the review: “For the first time we have an unprecedented evidence-based set of practical policy recommendations about what all countries can do to address the so-called “upstream” causes of health inequities, specifically targeted to their income level.

“This review crystallizes vital new knowledge for governments so that they can cut health inequalities and put people at the centre of health systems – the goals of Health 2020, the European health policy framework,”

The report also found that women and children in Spain, Italy and Cyprus would fare better than those in the UK.

It added that mortality rates in the under-fives were higher than most countries in the west of Europe and even some eastern European nations, including the Czech Republic and Slovenia.