Youth unemployment in Thanet was recorded at a shocking 12% for December 2025 (latest data available via Kent Analytics).
The rate is one of the highest in recent years, and is also the highest in the south east with Hastings recording the second highest rate at 10%. The Thanet figure equates to 1,045 young adults out of work.
Youth unemployment in Kent (18 to 24 year-olds) is 6.3%, almost half that recorded for Thanet.
The unemployment rate across all ages for Thanet stands at 5,4% – equating to 4,365- a 1% rise on the previous month.
The 12% youth unemployment rate represents a significant, recent high for Thanet. Pre-pandemic rates stood at around 7%. although this reached 17.4% in 2020 during the pandemic. Since 2025 the rate hovered at around 10% before the rise at the end of the year.
Thanet consistently faces the highest youth unemployment in the South East.
During a debate on youth unemployment in Parliament last month, Sir Roger Gale MP – whose constituency covers an area including Westgate and Birchington – said although East Kent College is “doing a tremendous job under quite difficult circumstances,” training young people in skilled trades “there is little point in offering that training in skills, only to see disappointment at the end of it because the opportunities have gone.”
He said: “When a young man or young woman trains as an electrician, plumber or bricklayer, they expect to then go on to earn money in a job as an electrician, plumber or bricklayer. People in the construction trades in east Kent are being laid off. House building is grinding to a halt, houses are not selling and the market is flat. That is all as a result of the Government’s fiscal policies.
“In towns in my constituency such as Herne Bay, Sandwich, Birchington-on-Sea and Westgate-on-Sea, many of the jobs are hospitality-based. They are either directly in hospitality—pubs, restaurants and small hotels—or they are dependent upon the visitors that those businesses attract, such as the seaside amusement arcades and Dreamland in Margate.
“All these businesses are dependent on people having money to spend to be able to employ staff. Those staff are not being taken on, and those staff are the young people.
“Businesses are laying off staff, rather than taking them on.”
He added: “Directly or indirectly, it is national insurance, business rates, the cost of inputs and the cost of electricity. People cannot run a restaurant or a pub without heating and lighting or food to put on the table.
“It is no good. We do not want a sticking plaster, and we do not want schemes. We do not want to be told, “Yes, you can do this and you can do that. There are these opportunities.” These young people—soon it will be my grandchildren—want jobs. They want the dignity of being able to go out, to do a hard day’s work, whether that is washing up in a café, picking fruit in an orchard or whatever, and to get a pay packet at the end of it that they have earned and can spend as they want. That is the dignity of employment, and that is what I fear this Government are denying them.”
National picture
Nationally, unemployment in the UK rose to its highest rate in nearly five years at the end of 2025.
The unemployment rate was 5.2% in the three months to December, with youth unemployment (18 to 24 yr olds) rising to 14%, the highest since 2020, and for 16-24 the figure stands at 16.1%.
Tackling youth unemployment
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said tackling youth unemployment a key government priority, particularly via apprenticeships.
This month the government vowed to “unlock opportunities for young people across the country.”
The government is set to pilot a university clearance-style system where ‘near miss’ applicants who don’t secure their top choice apprenticeship will be re-directed to similar opportunities in their area.
Delivered in partnership with employers and Mayoral Strategic Authorities the pilot will test how to re-direct young people to other suitable employers and apprenticeships on their doorstep if they were unsuccessful in their initial applications.
An online platform will bring together information on apprenticeships in one place for young people, many of whom are keen to explore the apprenticeship route but don’t know where to start.
The platform will include new data showing actual earnings and how apprentices have progressed after completing their training.
The government says that backed by the Growth and Skills Levy, the measures will help deliver 50,000 more apprenticeships for young people.
Work at Thanet job centres
At Thanet job centres the focus has been on supporting people with health conditions to move closer to work. The centres’ Disability Employment team recently held a successful Health Event at the Ramsgate Salvation Army Hall.
Individuals were invited by the Jobcentre to come along and meet providers like Social Enterprise Kent, The Education People (Connect to Work), East Kent College (Thrive) and others to explore ways to improve wellbeing and to plan their next steps to move forward.
Outcomes have shown that Connect to Work had 11 referals to their service and EK College who deliver a project called Thrive also had 8 referrals. Thrive is a 12 week programme supporting those with long term health conditions to build confidence and learn new digital skills with the aim of helping people prepare for work, volunteering or training.
One claimant is now starting part-time work of 15 hours per week with Cosmetic Medicine in Birchington due to the confidence he gained from attending the event.
The Recruitment Specialist team also continues to work with local providers and employers on wider Jobcentre opportunities, including Sector Based Work Academies in rail engineering, working in the Civil Service, and construction trades.
Recent on-site interviews with MiHomecare and CareTech at the local Jobcentres resulted in multiple job offers, showcasing strong employer engagement across Thanet.
Volunteering has also been a feature of helping claimants to move closer to work with Margate Caves and the British Heart Foundation opening up opportunities for those who need on site experience to gain new skills for future work reference and activity to add to their CVs.
Their best (legal) hope is working in the building trade, plenty of work in Thanet!
Washing up in a hotel kitchen, cleaning toilets in a gym, sorting out clothes in the back of a charity shop, labouring on building sites, life model for art classes… these are just some of the many jobs I’ve done. Many youngsters today are too fussy!
I tried life modelling, but the poor ladies couldn’t find drawing pads big enough to capture my attributes.
Mind you A7 was out of stock, so they were stuck with A8!
It has for decades been wiping old peoples bums in care homes. Strange Mr Gale goes on correctly about what is the point of all these courses for no work at the end of completing them, yet he fully backed the ‘levelling up’ Maragte Digital Centre, that as I have been saying will have no jobs locally at the end of it either-as there has been zero interest in attracting companies to this area that would be doing the work these people would be training for.
Margate Digital College will be the biggest white elephant the area has ever seen. Mark my words. Total waste of taxpayers money.
Like or loathe him, Sir Roger is’nt too far wrong. Who’s going to offer those with few qualifications of skills a job? With the possible changes to employment rights and the absolute minimum cost to an employer of 27k a year , many employers will just decide to wait for a worker with a decent cv or go without.
Anyone want to predict the % by November this year? I’ll go for 15%ish.and that’s being optimistic.
Not forgetting of course the increases in business rates that kick in in april.
Rodger Gales’ comments about the current government’s fiscal policies don’t explain why a nationwide policy should have such an impact on Thanet.
Nor does he acknowledge that one of the reasons for this policy is the 14 years of austerity impos3d on the country by successive Tory government’s.
Andrew – give it a rest please – the current government are devoid of ideas, completely lost touch and liars! No Labour Government in history has managed UK economy in a positive manner, always left office with country on its knees. Young people seeking a job are penalised by current government policies making employing someone too expensive. Blame Reeves for her incompetence.
Liz Truss was a disaster. She was a Tory.
David Cameron, a Tory, took us out of Europe.
But my comment pointed out that a nationwide policy can’t be responsible for a local problem.
David Cameron didn’t take us out of Europe – we did. It’s called democracy.
Andrew – please check your facts before posting – Liz Truss was very very short term and as pointed out by Mr Checksfield, UK voters decided we leave EU,
Andrew – please check your facts before posting – Liz Truss was very very short term and as pointed out by Mr Checksfield, UK voters decided we leave EU, also, national policies can have direct bearing on local issues eg increase in costs of emplo
It started going downhill in Thanet in the 80s with the decline in tourism + the closure of the many factories + the shutting of the nearby coalmines.
YEAH I AGREE-THE THATCHER YEARS.I REMEMBER HOW BAD THINGS WERE THEN AS A TEENAGER.
Put all the local Canaries out of work & lung doctors.
I believe Thanet youth unemployment has always been far higher than the national and certainly the Kent average.
Can’t say I know anyone, young or old, who wants to work but is unemployed.
Soft and entitled. They are happy to get a free bit of cash to spend on weed – especially in the arse end of Thanet that is Birchington.
Several factors at play here – Iets have a look see:
Population growth vs district growth. The numbers of school leavers entering the workforce is outstripping the number of opportunities available in the district leading to a (predictable) rise in unemployment.
Types of Work. Although someone mentioned the trades, there is a persistent resistance amongst the younger cohort to take on jobs exposed to the elements, or dare I say it, ones which require actual physical effort. Many will look for excuses to return to education or sit at home playing Xbox. Tony Blair’s cornerstone policies has pushed millions into taking on a “lifestyle” degree (any degree is cool, right?) no employer cares one jot for. Shock-horror – the chickens are coming home to roost!
Seaside economy. Perhaps the unemployment rate may lower once the weather improves, who knows, but traditionally there’s never really been the kinds of economies of scale to absorb younger workers in the same way as an urban city like Manchester, for example. All the while seaside population are growing.
Older workers. Many affluent older workers are selfishly clinging onto roles that would otherwise benefit a younger generation gaining early work experience. Some are in receipt of early drawdown private pensions including a spouse drawing a state pension. “Do you really need money that badly?”
Employer’s attitude. Although I can’t prove it directly, the opinion is that no younger worker is worth the extra cost in taxation and training seems pervasive when you look on forums and digest the woes before your eyes. Yes, it does cost the employer more but what about the moral compass? Is it fair for that employer to save £25k or more on training a young school leaver just so a shareholder can have that Range Rover? Certainly happening in Thanet, they’ve everywhere, and you know who you are. Please go away [and take your potholes with you].
Twee DFLs. Margate is seen as a Poundland answer to buying a 5-bed period property to match their wine swilling inheritance club chums in Hampstead, all the while not investing any of their city grifted cash in anything other than Tracy Emin knockoffs; a huge amount of cash has descended to Margate from London. Alas, I don’t hear of any new enterprises taking on desperate school leavers (you know, the ones they’re not related to).
In many ways this can be considered a rant on inequality, and to a certain extent it is. Until we address the problems of fairness and meritocracy, the UK as a whole will diminish as an influence on the world stage.
Having a stab at any one councillors’ ability to change anything meaningful locally is futile if all people are doing is continually making selfish choices.
Lots of reasons for this. PIP mental health claims for school leavers through the roof. Thousands of SEN children now completing their education and unfortunately realising employers won’t bend over backwards to accommodate them in the workplace like schools did. Also local college totally out of sync with the employment and skills market. Offering barbering courses where you haven’t got a chance of employment unless you’re Turkish, butlering courses (yes really, in Thanet) and a whole host of catering courses when hospitality and high skilled catering are in a downward spiral.
For all of these reasons our youth come out of the education system totally ill equipped to find work or contribute. And that’s not even mentioning the impact of Labour policies around jobs taxes and minimum wages which are actually reducing the hours and jobs available.
It’s a mess and we are writing off thousands of young people.
Free rail and bus travel for them aged 16 to 25 plenty of work if you are prepared to travel the 9am till 3:15pm school day does them NO favours in preparation for the working day.
In my apprenticeship days as a Plumber I use to travel up to 2 hours each way to get to my place of work at least I got expenses to cover the costs.
Parents taking kids to and from school doesn’t help either. I got two buses each way (90 minutes travelling) for one of my schools, and another one (juniors) I walked on my own about mile & 1/2 each way.
Roger Gale should recall that he was first elected as a Tory MP in 1983. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher’s monetarist policies from 1981–1983 youth claimant rates in Thanet were commonly estimated at 25–35% of under-25s. It rarely dipped below 20% throughout the 80s.
Do people really want ‘the dignity’ of doing a ‘hard day’s work’ washing up in a cafe or picking fruit for miserly wages, a poor health service, sky-high rents and the impossibility of home ownership and constant attacks on social welfare? What have over forty years of Roger’s neolberal drivel actually achieved? Poverty, decline, narrow-minded racism and resentment come to mind.
I too walked to and from school from the age of four then a couple of buses to Ramsgate every day, left school at fifteen found work left home at sixteen , then worked on ships for 35 years, travelled the world several times, kids should go to the University of the world and grow up away from Mummy and Daddy
PETER:
Luxury, this. Sitting down indoors. When I were a lad, we had to stand in a draughty corridor and imagine chairs.
FRED:
Chairs? We dreamed of corridors. Our dad would draw a rectangle in t’dust and say, “That’s a room. Mind the rent.”
PETER:
Room? You were lucky. We lived in a shoebox on t’dual carriageway. Every morning we’d get flattened by the 6:42 to Croydon and thank driver for t’warmth.
PLUMBOB:
Shoebox? We’d have given our right arm for cardboard. We lived in a rolled-up parking ticket.
RG-He said: “When a young man or young woman trains as an electrician, plumber or bricklayer, they expect to then go on to earn money in a job as an electrician, plumber or bricklayer. People in the construction trades in east Kent are being laid off. House building is grinding to a halt, houses are not selling and the market is flat. That is all as a result of the Government’s fiscal policies.
Come now Mr Gale-while this lot are useless, they are just carrying on the 14 years that exactly the same was happening under your equally useless lot-are we going to pretend all in it together Dave, Wheat Fields May & Bozo did a good job? Just forgetting that the worst PM in history-despite her brevity of reign Lettuce Liz ignored advice from the experts & crashed the economy just weeks after taking over? Labour is the new Tory Party-15 U-Turns & pretty much all of them self-inflicted because Starmer & his cronies have behaved like your lot-why we voted to get Tories out, not to have more of the same-yet he wonders why Labour are as dead as your bunch in the polls & has to be forced into being socialists.
RG-These young people—soon it will be my grandchildren—want jobs. They want the dignity of being able to go out, to do a hard day’s work, whether that is washing up in a café, picking fruit in an orchard or whatever, and to get a pay packet at the end of it that they have earned and can spend as they want.
Who do you think your are fooling? Your grandkids are not going to be serving in coffee shops & greasy spoons, sweating their bums off at mass polluter Thanet Earth or sitting on a supermarket till. Your class don’t do such things-they will get the best education money can buy & will use your/your kids contacts & go into investment banking, the city, politics etc on six figures per year.
DWP Shill-Outcomes have shown that Connect to Work had 11 referals to their service and EK College who deliver a project called Thrive also had 8 referrals. Thrive is a 12 week programme supporting those with long term health conditions to build confidence and learn new digital skills with the aim of helping people prepare for work, volunteering or training. One claimant is now starting part-time work of 15 hours per week with Cosmetic Medicine in Birchington due to the confidence he gained from attending the event.
So the same story they always sing on here-the same old training providers coining it in with the same old courses of ‘building confidence’, ‘computer skills’ & ‘help with CV’s’-full of people forced to go on them or have their pittance stopped-that have already been forced onto dozens of them over the last decade or so, just dressed up with a new name. Outcomes? 1 out of 18 & not even a full time job isn’t a good return is it? Well done to the person involved, but what about the other 7 who presumably it has made zero difference for? What about the CTW who apparently are batting 0 for 11? Is this god value for money?
DWP Shill-The Recruitment Specialist team also continues to work with local providers and employers on wider Jobcentre opportunities, including Sector Based Work Academies in rail engineering, working in the Civil Service, and construction trades.
Once again you say this every time-though now you are so embarrassed by the current numbers that you aren’t even putting a named JCP individual forward. How many jobs have resulted from these talks? Judging by the figures none.
DWP Shill-Recent on-site interviews with MiHomecare and CareTech at the local Jobcentres resulted in multiple job offers, showcasing strong employer engagement
across Thanet.
Again-you always claim job offers & engagement, but how many actual jobs resulted from this? Were these unsuitable part-time jobs, zero hour contracts ungodly hours etc? Let’s have some detail & actual outcomes-one suspects you will not because of the reality. One assumes if it had actually been proper jobs these people accepted you would be singing it from the rooftops-yet you never do, so we can only assume they are garbage offers with no guaranteed hours of work, not enough hours of work, or working from midnight etc.
DWP Shill-Volunteering has also been a feature of helping claimants to move closer to work with Margate Caves and the British Heart Foundation opening up opportunities for those who need on site experience to gain new skills for future work reference and activity to add to their CVs.
Ah yes, as usual if you can’t find people work just force them to work for free or else they get no money from you & pretend it will get them paid work. Of course this endless supply of free labour you keep sending them means companies are never going to hire anybody & will often sack existing staff as a result.
Luxury.
Luxury Yacht, but pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove.
Could always join the forces.
Yeah, most people have woken up to that one after the fake intelligence US led invasions waste of time, money, life, limbs, mental health etc into Afghanistan/Iraq-that also led to UK Terror attacks since 2005 that never existed before Blair decided the UK would join in Dubya’s ego trip-only to hand it all back to the Taliban in 2021.
You would have to be out of your minds with Starmer threatening Russia while pretending we are at war with them to distract from his & his parties corruption, incompetence & whatever the hell Mandelson etc was about to want to go to Ukraine.
Expendable land grunts & jarheads will be out of work in a decade or so-wars among military powers in developed countries will be fought exclusively with Drones & AI-that will wipe out troops, tanks, planes etc in an instant. The idiots from Reddit etc who ventured off to Ukraine looking for ‘fun & action’ after the Russian invasion were already killed by a drone strike several years back-the game has changed already & like pretty much every job these people will be made redundant by the technology they have decided to push full steam ahead with.
Might as well join the forces, will get called up anyway if Starmer has his way.
A large brown field site in the middle of Thanet has been doing nothing for the past 10 years to bring jobs on a pipe dream of an airport. You have places like Altria business park in Herne Bay that have gone from nothing in half the time to shopping, leisure and industrial units. Need to a flexible approach to planning to allow investment.
What investment has Roger Gale brought to Thanet in the last 30 plus years … And now we have Labour ….
Sparkling – no doubt a msssive debt being built up by Labour lead TDC!