Youth unemployment is set to rise to its highest level in 10 years.
Job vacancies are standing at a post-pandemic low. Growth is stagnant. Welfare spending is out of control. Nearly a million 16–24-year-olds are not working or in education.
Yet the Chancellor’s Spring Statement on March 3 proved so inconsequential and devoid of vision that it felt almost redundant; especially for young people.
It offered no acknowledgement of the crippling burden of student debt or the deepening youth unemployment crisis, issues that continue to shape an entire generation’s economic future.
Many of the systemic issues outlined above stem from political parties prioritising other core voter demographics. Now, under the leadership of Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party is charting a new course for the younger generation.
Firstly, we will properly back apprentices. While university is often a successful and positive path for many - I have fond memories of being an undergraduate - it is not the only path. In fact, a young member of my team often says he wishes he had pursued an alternative route. Yet, access to good apprenticeships are being restricted by this Labour government. For eight years, I have co-hosted a ‘Maidstone Apprenticeship Fair’ at Mote Park alongside my Kent Tory colleagues.
While this was still a successful and jam-packed occasion, there was a notable drop in the number of businesses signing up this year.
It is clear that the Government’s approach is making it significantly harder for businesses to offer apprenticeships. Recent increases in employer National Insurance contributions, alongside rises in the minimum wage, are having a damaging knock-on effect on young workers.
The minimum wage increase in particular disproportionately affects younger people, as it reduces the incentive for businesses to invest in talented but inexperienced employees.
As employment costs rise, taking a chance on young workers becomes less economically viable, ultimately limiting opportunities for those at the start of their careers. A future Conservative government will back young people with real opportunity, not empty promises. We will create 100,000 new apprenticeships for 18–21-year-olds by lifting funding caps and giving employers up to £5,000 for every British apprentice they hire. At the same time, we’ll end the university debt trap by cutting wasteful spending on low-value degrees, so school leavers face a genuine choice between university and high-quality vocational training.
Graduates deserve fairness too. Those on Student Loan Plan 2, who started University on or after September 1st 2012, are charged inflation plus three percent and this colossal injustice drives up debt for who have pursued higher. We would scrap real interest rates on Plan 2 student loans, saving graduates tens of thousands of pounds.
Under this plan, a doctor in 2029 with £80,000 of student debt will save £58,000 in lifetime repayments and clear their loans at a faster rate, while a graduate with £40,000 of student debt on a salary of £50,000 would save £26,000 in lifetime repayments and would clear their loan five years faster than under the current system.
We will also introduce a First Job Bonus, letting young people keep the first £5,000 of National Insurance they pay; saved towards a home or their future.
Not a single penny of this bonus would be spent on stamp duty - because we will also abolish this punitive tax on primary residences.
Nearly one million young people are out of work or training. We will help them back into jobs with opportunity and apprenticeships, while ensuring welfare supports work, not dependency.
Under Kemi Badenoch, we will build a meritocratic economy that rewards hard work at every age.
This article was published on the 11th March 2026 in Kent Online, and can be found here: https://kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/we-have-a-solid-plan-to-tackle-….
