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More young people working in pubs than ever before

25 November 2024 By Louis Thomas

The UK pub sector employs around 350,000 people under the age of 25, according to new research from Oxford Economics.

Overall, just over half (51%) of the workforce in UK pubs is aged between 16 and 24, as revealed by the research which was commissioned by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA). Overall, this means that around a tenth of 16-24-year-olds in the UK job market are employed by the sector.

The area of the country where the highest proportion of the pub workforce is made up of the under-25s is the East of England, at two-thirds (66%).

While much has been made of the supposed sobriety of Gen Z, and of the decline of the pub sector, the 2024 figure of 350,000 under 25-year-olds is an increase of almost a quarter (24%) on the pre-pandemic, 2019 number of 281,770.

The National Insurance Contributions, according to the BBPA, for pubs to employ these 350,000 under-25s comes to around £82 million, but, after the recent Budget, that figure will almost double to £153m.

BBPA CEO Emma McClarkin said that the UK Government “must be clear-eyed about the shattering effect new regulations will have”.

“If we’re to keep people in work and put money in their pockets, business needs to be viable,” she continued. “We urge the Government to reconsider the timings of the new employment costs and swiftly deliver meaningful business rate reforms. Only then can we continue to be the backbone of the UK job market and a cornerstone of the community.”

While the recent Budget did bring some glimmers of hope for the pub sector, the mood of the drinks industry in its aftermath has been far from cheery.

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