Kemi Badenoch, the UK Employment Minister, plans to announce a £2.3 billion package aimed at reducing youth unemployment by halving National Insurance contributions for employers hiring workers under 25 years old. The proposal is part of a broader strategy that includes measures to discourage young people from relying on benefits and to address employment challenges created by recent Labour policies. Badenoch argues that higher taxes and new regulations have made it less attractive for businesses to hire younger employees, leading to an increase in youth unemployment since Labour took office.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Taxes on employing young people are to be halved under Tory plans to tackle the youth jobs crisis.
asserted
Taxes → employ → crisis
Kemi Badenoch is set to unveil a new ‘rescue package for young people’ on Wednesday aimed at reversing the slide in entry level jobs under Labour.
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Badenoch → set → Labour
The package will include a pledge to halve the National Insurance contributions paid by firms employing workers aged under 25.
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package → include → 25
The plan will cost £2.3 billion and senior Tories believe it could trigger a hiring boom for young people.
uncertain
it → cost → people
It will be accompanied by a major push to get young people off benefits, including barring them from going straight on the dole from school and preventing people with mild mental health issues from claiming sickness payments.
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It → accompany → payments
Mrs Badenoch said a dose of ‘tough love’ was needed to reverse a situation which has left more than a million young people not earning or learning.
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which → say → people
But she said employers also need encouragement to take on young people after being battered by higher taxes and new regulations in Labour’s first two years.
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employers → say → years
The Tory leader told the BBC that ‘the world is getting worse for young people’.
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world → tell → people
‘What we have seen is youth unemployment skyrocket,’ she said.
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she → see → What
‘We've seen an increase since Labour came into office of 174,000.
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Labour → see → 174,000
We've got to fix that.
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We → get → that
There's a graduate recruitment crisis, and if young people don't get a job early, that impacts their lifetime earnings.
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that → be → earnings
So I'm really focusing this on them.
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I → focus → them
Kemi Badenoch pledged to unpick tax hikes blamed for fuelling youth unemployment
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Badenoch → pledge → unemployment
Employers have blamed a triple whammy of changes under Labour for making it less attractive to employ young people.
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it → blame → people
These include big hikes in the youth minimum wage, a wave of new employment rights and increases in National Insurance.
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These → include → Insurance
Rachel Reeves levied a £25 billion increase in employers’ NI in 2024, raising it from 13.8 per cent to 15.
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Reeves → levy → 15
She also almost halved the threshold for paying employers’ NI to just £5,000, hitting young and part-time workers hardest.
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She → halve → workers
Under the new Tory plans, employer NI for workers aged 21 to 24 will be halved to just 7.5 per cent.
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NI → age → cent
The would allow businesses to keep an average of £1,545 for every young worker, making them more attractive to employ.
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them → allow → worker
A firm employing ten young graduates on £30,000 would keep £18,750 a year.
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firm → employ → 18,750
The move will cost £2.3 billion a year and will be funded by cuts from existing spending as part of a new ‘Conservative Savings Plan’ to be published on Wednesday.
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move → cost → Wednesday
It will not cover workers who earn more than the £50,270 threshold for paying 40p tax.
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who → cover → tax
Workers aged 21 and under already attract a zero rate of employers NI under changes introduced by the last government.
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Workers → age → government
Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said: ‘Labour are destroying the future of our young people.
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Labour → say → people
Their Jobs Tax, employment red tape and minimum wage hikes have seen an explosion in the cost of employing a young worker.
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Tax → see → worker
We will fix that.
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We → fix → that
‘We will slash the tax on youth jobs in half to give young people the opportunities they deserve.’
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they → slash → opportunities
Mrs Badenoch said she would like to reverse Labour’s NI hike in its entirety, but said it was not currently affordable.
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it → say → entirety
‘If I could afford to cut it for everybody, I promise you that I would,’ she said.
uncertain
she → afford → you
‘But young people have a much worse problem than everybody else.’
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people → have → everybody
The Tory leader is expected to focus heavily on the need to cut Britain’s bloated benefits bill when she addresses the conservative Party conference in Birmingham tomorrow.
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she → expect → Birmingham
Speaking on Tuesday, she told GB News: ‘We are the fiscally responsible party.
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We → speak → News
Because if we run out of money, none of us are going to have anything.
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none → run → anything
We need to get people off welfare and into work.
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We → need → work
‘The best welfare is a well-paying job.
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welfare → pay → ?
That means a lot of tough love.’
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That → mean → love
The Tory leader is also expected to unveil plans to cut inheritance tax, which she has previously described as ‘immoral’.
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she → expect → which
Options include cutting the 40p headline rate or raising the threshold at which it kicks in.
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it → include → which
Mrs Badenoch committed again to retaining the pension triple lock.
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Badenoch → commit → lock
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
