Madam Speaker, the employment rate is the percentage of young people in total who are employed. It is different from the unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of young people in the workforce who are not working. We are seeing historic lows in the employment rate. The percentage of young people in the 15 to 24 age bracket who are working is at its lowest level in more than 25 years. This indicates that unemployment is at about a 15-year high. It also indicates that many young people are, in many cases, giving up.
There is a lot of frustration with what they are facing and there is an increasing sense of hopelessness, so we are trying to offer young people hope. We are trying to say that a better future, with jobs, homes and hope, is possible. This is why we put forward the Conservative youth jobs plan, which would deliver hope and create opportunities if it were implemented.