In Britain we like to feed the idea that every child has equal access to the tools of success and the chance to access the career of their choice regardless of background. Sadly, this idea doesn’t hold up under too much close scrutiny.
Recently Alan Milburn a former Labour’s Minister has been speaking about the reduction in the numbers of young people who are doing Saturday Jobs / part time jobs as part of his investigation into the increased number of NEETs (young people who are not in employment, education or training). There are nearly one million young people aged 16-24 who are ‘neither learning nor earning’ and Milburn wants to look into the underlying reasons for that including mental health, barriers to employment, family disadvantage and educational underachievement.
The news recently led with the idea that the ‘death of the Saturday job’ had an impact on young people’s readiness for work – since 2000 the number of young people working part-time has reduced from around 49% to about 20% and Milburn wants to consider this downward trend and the fact that ‘paper rounds and jobs in coffee shops, retail stores and cafés were the bread and butter of young work experience. Maybe they were years ago but let’s look at this in some detail.
NEWSPAPERS: Physical newspaper sales have reduced by more than 2/3rds since 2000, with the Sun for example (the most purchased tabloid) reducing from 3.76 million copies in 2000 to about 700,000 in 2025. This clearly means not many need to be delivered coupled with the accessibility of newspapers in supermarkets, petrol stations as well as newsagents means that people will pic them up on their way to work or to buy other items.
COFFEE SHOPS / CAFES: have been a massive growth area in the past quarter century but then so has the zero-hours contact so those adults in full time work are often not promised any work hours as standard, but are retained for use when the business needs them – this means that at weekends the men and women who contribute to their household budget will want to get the hours available and this will have a knock-on effect on the young people who want to work on Saturdays…there won’t be reliable (if any) hours available for young people.
RETAIL: The increase in online shopping and speed of technology to support retailing online has meant the reduction in the number of physical stores which typically used to provide young people with Saturday / evening jobs in a physical retail space. It was estimated that 17,000 physical shops were closed in 2025 and it was estimated by Drapers (retail statistics) that there would be a continuing decline in physical retail stores between 2025 and 2030. Retail jobs are therefore reducing, many zero hours and also reducing support-jobs such as cleaning in these spaces.
So, sadly, as well as there being changes to education systems, increased mental health issues post-Covid and the impacts on the economy of initiatives like Brexit – there simply aren’t the same options as existed a quarter century ago. Coupled with busier roads and more ‘helicopter parenting’ there are plenty of parents who wouldn’t want to let their teens go out to work.
On the bright side, the internet does give young people a chance to develop their own business ideas and connect with one another:
- Design tools to edit and make content for businesses to get online to sell / promote their products and services.
- Web coding skills to help organisations build a web presence.
- Skills to help companies design their digital presence.
- Selling opportunities to make money via buying and selling vintage clothes, pre-used Games and equipment.
- Setting up drop-shipping businesses as a cost-effective way to sell items without huge outlays.
Mr Milburn is clearly doing something to look into the multiple reasons young people aren’t doing Saturday jobs, but often it’s NOT the fault of those young people but of economic systems that have led to more people being offered less secure work and changing markets that don’t always support youth work.
The first report is due out in Spring, we’ll be watching out for the recommendations.
There are other ways we can support young people and one of the most powerful is National Careers Week – the UK’s biggest celebration of careers which supports millions of young people in schools and colleges, special schools and youth centres. Supported by sponsors from all areas of the industry landscape, #NCW2026 is the 2nd to 7th March and includes Virtual Work Experience, free resources for all young people, schools and parents
NCW’s motto is: “We believe in the power if CEIAG as a driver of change within society. Improving life choices and empowering people to take control of their own future”
Want to get involved? All the information can be found at NationalCareersWeek.com and on Socials at @CareersWeek