Green Party calls for Minister for Youth to protect a ‘generation in crisis’

22 September 2016

* Amelia Womack: ‘We're watching a whole generation suffer from the failure of government policy and we cannot stand by and let that happen.’

* Amelia, 31, is the youngest Deputy Leader of any UK political party

The Green Party has called for a Minister for Youth after research shows young people in Britain are a “generation in crisis”.

Amelia Womack, deputy leader of the Green Party, made the call after a poll from the Young Women’s Trust found large numbers say they are worn down and concerned about their futures with low self-confidence [1].

Amelia was first elected in 2014 aged 29 and now 31-years-old is the youngest Deputy Leader of any UK political party.

She said:

“People in Britain are currently living through a terrible age of insecurity and it comes as no surprise that this has left a whole generation of young people in crisis.

“Across the country they are leaving university with crippling debt only to find they must take unacceptably low wages or unpaid internships to enter the job market - and that's if they can find work at all.

“We're watching a whole generation suffer from the failure of government policy and we cannot stand by and let that happen. We need to overhaul the system to ensure it respects young people, as well as secure a Minister for Youth to directly address these issues.

“For a start, we must scrap university tuition fees entirely to stop young people's early experiences in life being managing debt.

“Next we urgently need to create more, properly paid jobs. The Government’s National Living Wage for over-25s is not that at all, and instead the real Living Wage, based on what people need to survive, should be enforced for all people in all jobs.”

ENDS.

For more information or pictures contact press@greenparty.org.uk / 0203 691 9401

Notes:

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/22/young-people-living-in-a-suspended-adulthood-finds-research

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