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Nobody can argue, that when it comes to the job market – it’s our youth who are bearing the brunt of the shrinking economy. For those who have recently entered the workforce, or are poised to do so this year, it is an extremely uncertain time.

As the UK edges closer to a double dip recession, the number of young people in unemployment is continuing to climb. In the three months to November, people in the 25-34 age group had a redundancy rate of 16.2 per 1,000, a fivefold increase on the same period a year earlier.

These figures are especially worrying when you consider the long-term effect unemployment has on the young people affected by it. There is alarming evidence of this from the 2008-09 recession. Research by the Resolution Foundation found that those who entered the working world during the crisis took six years longer to recover their wages compared with their preceding cohorts. Crises end, but the damage to our youth takes a long time to heal.