The BRC is calling for the government to safeguard the sector’s ability to offer flexible entry-level employment in a campaign backing the traditional Saturday job.
The trade association wants ministers to scrap moves to raise minimum pay for 18 to 20-year-olds to the same level as over-21s, something the government has pledged to do at a pace set by the Low Pay Commission.
The BRC is also asking for the pay threshold for employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) to be increased, and for reforms over zero-hour contracts to “remain proportionate”. It comes days after government analysis put the cost of the guaranteed hour reforms to businesses at up to £2.9bn.
A BRC-commissioned Opinium poll of 2,000 UK adults found four out of five believed part-time work, including the traditional Saturday job, was important in helping young people into employment.
Support rose to 91% among those aged 55 and over, “underlining the enduring value many place on these jobs as their own first steps into the world of work”, according to the BRC.
Those who did take this route as a teenager in the mid-1980s would have been paid an hourly rate in the region of £1 to £1.50 (£3.20 to £4.80 in today’s money), according to parliamentary debates from the time.
Read more: Regulation at risk of ‘banning the Saturday job’, says M&S chief
“For generations, Saturday jobs have given young people their first experience of work, helping them build confidence, develop new skills and take the first step in their careers,” said BRC CEO Helen Dickinson. “Retail has proudly provided these opportunities for millions of people, but they are becoming harder to sustain.”
Retail and its supply chains still account for almost a quarter (23%) of all youth employment, according to the BRC. More than half of the 780,000 retail jobs held by 16 to 25-year-olds were part-time, but such roles were coming under pressure thanks to rises in employer NICs and the national living wage over the past two years, it said.
“If the Burnham government is serious about tackling youth unemployment, it must not make it harder to create entry-level jobs,” added Dickinson.
“After £6.5bn in additional employment costs over the past two years, businesses need policies that encourage recruiting young people, not discourage it. That means reducing the cost of employing young people, and proportionate guaranteed hours reforms.”
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