The case for a Skills Tax Break

There are currently almost 1 million 16-24 year-olds in the UK who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs = 946,000 young people). That represents one in seven young people. With the apprenticeship levy not yet living up to its hoped impact there is a need to further stimulate employment growth. The CSJ has constructed a simple model of how government could try to halve the number of NEETs: giving businesses a tax break at a set rate on the average salary of a young person to employ and train them. Over five years we think this has a potential gain to the Treasury of up to £23.1 billion.