# UK’s youth unemployment crisis costing UK £125bn a year, review estimates

By Fran Barnes — 2026-05-28

Fran Barnes, chief executive of the Horticultural Trades Association, said: “This is depressing, but sadly predictable.

“If you make it more expensive to employ people and continue heaping costs onto businesses, the natural conclusion is that fewer people will be employed.

“This is exactly what the Horticultural Trades Association warned about when the Government announced hikes in employers’ National Insurance with only a few months’ notice, alongside increases to the National Living Wage, changes to business taxation and more regulation, including EPR.

“SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy. Our sector is made up of more than 90% SMEs, but we are far from unique.

“What makes this especially sad is that this situation was avoidable. The warnings were there, loudly and clearly. And it will disproportionately impact a generation that has already had a difficult start.

“Young people are not ‘snowflakes’. They lived through COVID during some of their most formative years. They face relentless pressure from social media and growing concerns around mental health. Many already feel that home ownership and long-term financial security are out of reach.

“The cruel irony is that businesses across horticulture are crying out for good people who want a career in our sector. Horticulture is a fantastic industry to work in. But ‘crying out for’ people is not the same as being able to afford to employ them.

“Across the SME economy, belts are tightening, and growth plans are being shelved.

“If businesses are not supported, this report is the inevitable outcome.

“The answer is not complicated. Give SMEs certainty. Give them confidence to grow. Stop treating them as endless sources of revenue and recognise them for what they are: the engine room of jobs, skills, investment and opportunity.

“If you do that, they will do the rest.”

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