A stark new report from the Resolution Foundation lands today. It warns that young Britons face a 'lost generation' of lower earnings and fewer opportunities. The data is brutal.
Youth unemployment is creeping up. Real wages for under-25s have stagnated. The report points the finger squarely at a decade of policy drift.
George Osborne's austerity, they argue, hollowed out the jobs market for school leavers. Then came Brexit. Then came Covid.
Each shock hitting the youngest hardest. The foundation's director, Torsten Bell, does not mince words. He says the social contract is broken.
The promise that each generation will do better than the last has been shredded. Labour sources tell me this report is now being circulated in Keir Starmer's office. They see it as a political weapon.
The Tories, they say, have presided over a 'lost decade'. But the question is: what would Labour do differently? Their 'New Deal for Working People' is still vague on specifics.
Shadow ministers are nervous. They know the Treasury will resist big spending. The report recommends a higher minimum wage for under-21s and a new 'youth guarantee' for training.
But with the party obsessed with fiscal credibility, can they deliver? Behind the scenes, there is a quiet war. The Blairite wing wants targeted interventions.
The Corbynite remnants want structural change. Starmer is stuck in the middle. One shadow cabinet member told me: 'We can't just blame the Tories.
We have to offer a plan.' Watch this space. The report is live on the Resolution Foundation website now.
Expect the headlines to be grim. But this is only round one. The battle over how to fix it will define the next election.
