The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was the former name in the United Kingdom of a course of on-the-job training for school leavers ages between 16 and 17 who would otherwise have been unemployed. The scheme was first outlined in the 1980 White Paper A New Training Initiative: A Programme for Action, and was brought into operation in 1983 by the government of Margaret Thatcher. Initially lasting one year, the scheme was amended in 1986 to be extendable to a second year. Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California during the Great Depression. ... A white paper can be an authoritative report on a major issue, as by a team of experts; a government report outlining policy; or a short treatise whose purpose is to educate (contrast position paper) industry customers. ... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born October 13, 1925), is a British stateswoman and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, also Leader of the Opposition from 1975, and the only woman to date to hold those positions. ...

The Youth Training Scheme promised training to its applicants and made use of a variety of different training locales such as businesses, colleges of further education or training workshops run by voluntary organisations. Since the training place was guaranteed by the government, and that trainees were to be paid whilst on the course, eligibility for social security unemployment benefit was withdrawn. Further education is education in addition to that received at secondary school. ... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security mainly refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized needs, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... Unemployment benefits are sums of money given to the unemployed by the government or a compulsory para-governmental insurance system. ...

Accredited organisations were required to provide at least 13 weeks per year of training away from the job and include life- and social skills. A standardised form of certification was issued at the end of the training period.

In 1989 the YTS was renamed Youth Training and was placed under the management of local Training and Enterprise Councils.

Criticism

The YTS attracted political and social criticism from an early point. Critics claimed that the scheme enabled employers to exploit school leavers for cheap labour, and provided little substance in the way of genuine education. The government's response was that the scheme was an effective counter to the drop in apprenticeships and marked rise in youth unemployment seen in the early 1980's. Apprenticeships form a traditional method of training a new generation of skilled crafts practitioners. ...

References

• Youth Policies in the UK: A Chronological Map, Keele University]