No, it's not a typo. Neet is the acronym dreamt up by government bureaucrats for young people who are not in employment, education, or training. There are more than a million 16- to 24-year-olds who fall into this category today.Now the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) is asking the government to 'freeze the minimum wage for the youngest earners in order to tackle spiralling youth unemployment'. From 1 October last year, the minimum wage for 16- to 17-year-olds is £3.57 per hour. That's a penny short of 25 pounds for a seven-hour day. (The rate is £4.83ph for 18- to 21-year-olds and £5.80ph for people aged 22 and above). In addition to freezing the minimum wage, the CIPD also wants the rise in the minimum wage for older age brackets to be pegged to the rate of inflation in 2010. It says pay restraint will help to minimise job losses, and these steps are essential to tackling unemployment at a time when we are just beginning to climb out of the recession. John Philpott, the CIPD’s chief economic adviser said: 'It is right that younger workers lucky enough to have jobs should play their collective part in helping maximise the chances for those who do not.' There's lots of research that shows that unscrupulous businesses exploit young people, whether they are on work experience or interns. But perhaps small businesses should think of this group as being able to bring different a fresh perspective and different ideas that could be far more valuable than their ages suggest.I'm not sure if a moratorium on pay for the youngest and the most poorly paid, would really help to solve youth unemployment – there are lots of other people out there who could be paid less, and to better effect. Would it solve any problems, or make a substantial difference to you as a small business if the minimum wage was frozen? Drop us a line.
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