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Barry Sheerman spoke out on the recent youth unemployment figures released Wednesday the 16^th of March. With youth unemployment at its highest point since 1992, Barry believes more action needs to be taken by the government to improve the outlook for Britain's young people.

Currently, 974,000 16-to-24-year-olds are out of work. These numbers indicate an increase of 30,000 over the previous three months.

Barry maintains that youth unemployment is a hugely significant issue in today's economy. He asked the Leader of the House of Commons:  "This is a mounting problem in our society and bodes very ill for the future. May we have an early statement and/or debate on that important matter? Members of all parties are deeply worried about the growing problem of youth unemployment."

George Young agreed that Members on both sides of the House are concerned about youth unemployment. "I hope the hon. Gentleman will take some comfort from the fact that 430,000 new private sector jobs have been created in the past year, and that more than 70,000 were created in the last three months of 2010, counterbalancing the 45,000 jobs lost in the public sector." He added there would be more opportunities for MPs to discuss the issue during the four-day debate on the Budget.

Barry continued to raise the issue on Tuesday, asking the Financial Secretary Mark Hoban:

"When such representations were being made, was the Minister conscious of the effect that these cuts might have on young people in our country? Did he look at last week's level of unemployment among young people? When will his Government do something for young people in this country?"

Hoban replied, "the legacy left by the previous Government was that youth unemployment was continuing to rise. The other problem with which the Opposition left us was that our children and grandchildren would have to pick up the tab for Labour's mismanagement of our economy. We need to get the deficit down to create the foundations for economic growth to ensure that more young people are back in work."

However, figures show that young people are continuing to bear the burden of job losses. Barry urges the Government to continue discussing the topic and hopes they will find innovative ways to increase youth employment.