One in five young people on the dole queue are more likely to be out of work in the future.
Researchers from Edinburgh Napier University found that 20 per cent of people unemployed between the ages of 18 and 24 were without a job after ten years.
The study team, based at the university’s Employment Research Institute, say their findings reveal the extent of the long-term impact of youth unemployment.
Professor Ronald McQuaid, who led the research, said: “The effects of young people being out of work for long periods mean that they are more likely to be unemployed or to have lower incomes even decades into the future.
“It is important that the various governments, as well as other agencies, work closely together to reduce this scourge and to help young people get into and remain in work, or give them realistic and meaningful work experience alternatives.”
The study focused on 607 people over a decade between 1998 and 2008.
The results found that 20 per cent of those unemployed or in low-paid work in 1998 were still in similar situations in 2008.