The “Know your rights line” is a telephone line of the British Trade Union Congress (TUC) especially set up for young workers to access information about their employment rights.The TUC is planning a campaign to promote employment rights amongst young workers. http://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/rights_main.cfm
Very often young people do not earn enough to be financially independent: they have to live at their parents’ until their late twenties or early thirties and depend on support from them40. Furthermore, young people very often experience stress and pressure at work. This is particularly true for young couples with children and single parent families. In practice, young people are unaware of their rights and do not really participate in collective agreements. It follows that the regulatory framework has to be improved in order to take into consideration the specific needs of young people. Protection is especially needed for those who do not take part in the labour market. Without such protection, especially for the disadvantaged, young people cannot experience youth as a transition period between child and adulthood and as a phase of social experimentation, developing creativity, personality, own opinions, responsibility etc. 3.2.
Proposals coming out from the consultations Employment At national, regional or local level To enhance and reinforce national, regional and local measures as part of the European Employment Strategy. • Improving labour market related information and counselling for young people:
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Develop user-friendly information and counselling services geared to the needs of young people.
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Include decision-makers and employers at local level in information and counselling services for young people.
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Develop concrete information resources for young people on job vacancies, working conditions, social protection etc. at the national, regional and local level.
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Circulate information in places where young people spend most of their time, such as in schools, universities, employment agencies, clubs, youth centres, etc.
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Develop specific youth information units within existing information services and guidance systems, geared to local specificities and personal action plans.
Revealing statistic: 20% of young people who have a job say they receive most of their income from their parents. When young people are asked why they now live with their parents for a longer period, almost 70% give financial reasons: they could not afford to live on their own. Between 1997 and 2001, the importance of parents as a source of income increased, in some cases significantly, in all EU countries except Ireland and Finland. More than one in two young people say they receive most of their income from their parents or family (7% more than in 1997). Source: EB2001, ibid.
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