Twenty per cent of young people (965,000) are now out of work, and this summer's school-leavers and new graduates will be joining the toughest labour market for a generation.
But why are school-leavers and graduates more likely to be struggling to find work? And what are the consequences of doing nothing?
We hear from Andrew Cave of the Federation of Small Businesses, John Philpott, chief economist of the CIPD and the Guardian's economics correspondent Phillip Inman.
Having scrapped the Future Jobs Fund, which provided subsidised work for young people - the government has faced claims from the opposition that it's not doing enough to help create opportunities for the under-25s. And will pledges to plow more resources into apprenticeships be enough to prevent a generation being scarred from joblessness?
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