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Employment for young people

Bristol ranks high in the league table of prosperity in Britain.  If you google “wealth management in Bristol” you will find a lot of companies wanting to look after the assets of the rich.  But for many Bristolians, that is something way beyond their aspirations. 

For young people in particular, jobs are hard to come by.  For 16 – 24 yr olds, unemployment is running at 17.7%.  That is nearly one in five young people in Bristol who can’t find suitable work.  Bristol is a centre of many exciting industries but for most of them you need good qualifications.  The days of leaving school at 16 and walking straight into a factory job are no longer with us.

Aspiration to get good qualifications is so important.  A positive sign for Bristol is the increasing standards of exam results right across the city. I knew as a youngster that to get a well-paid, interesting job I needed good exam results and I had support at home for that.  It seems that message is getting through to families from all backgrounds.  We must pay credit to the many teachers and head-teachers who have put so much effort into improving the exam results across the city and of course not forgetting the students themselves! 

Planning for sustainable jobs will be the make-or-break for Bristol.