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16/05/12 - Youth unemployment was 21.9% in the UK in March 2012, the second highest rate of G8 countries after Italy. This is close to its 20-year peak of 22.4%  at the end of 2011. The proportion of youth not in education, employment or training (NEETs)  in the UK remains high, at around 10% of 15 to 19 year-olds, among the highest in the OECD.

Education results are also low relative to spending. The UK comes out in the middle of OECD comparisons of how well 15 year olds do at school and in terms of the gaps between well and poorly performing pupils. Yet, the UK spends more on children than most OECD countries, at just over 90 000 pounds per child from birth up to the age of 18. This compares to an OECD average of just under 80 000 pounds.

Andreas Schleicher, Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary General and Co-ordinator of the OECD Skills Strategy, and Mark Keese, OECD head of Employment, together with Dr. Neil Lee, Senior Economist at the Work Foundation, will present new OECD analysis and recommendations on what countries should do to develop the skills of their young people and adults.  This new Skills Strategy, to be discussed by OECD ministers in Paris at their annual meeting on 23-24 May, can help countries to develop better and more relevant skills, deploy their talents more effectively in the labour-market, and thus turn skills into better jobs and better lives.
 
The seminar starts at 10H00, with coffee and pastries available from 09H30. The briefing is embargoed until Tuesday 22 May at 13H00 BST.

The Work Foundation is at 21 Palmer Street, London, SW1H 0AD.

To register or for more information, journalists should contact Spencer Wilson of the OECD’s Media Division at + 33 1 45 24 81 18 or at spencer.wilson@oecd.org.

see: OECD Skills Strategy