Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.69.3
Object Name
badge
Title
'L.P.Y.S. End cheap labour. Full pay on YOPs'
People
Labour Party, Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS), Militant
Events
Youth Opportunity Program (YOP)
Description
A white and red badge with 'L.P.Y.S. End cheap labour. Full pay on YOPs' written in contrasting writing (red on the white half, white on the red half).
The Youth Opportunity Programme (YOP) was designed as a work experience and work preparation training scheme for unemployed young people who had recently left school, instituted by the Labour government in 1978. The program lasted six months, and each placement was supposed to offer a road into work for participants. However, the wages were extremely low, and there were widespread reports of participants being unable to find work at the end of a YOP scheme. Some young people and trade unions criticised the program as undermining access to fairly paid employment, as some employers would offer the same placement repeatedly to YOPs rather than hiring a full time worker on a full wage.
The Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) was a section of the Labour Party from 1960-1991. The LPYS advocated for socialist policy from within the Labour Party, proposing motions at conferences, and organising alongside Militant, a Trotskyist socialist group of Labour Party members. The LPYS was disbanded in 1991 after Young Labour was set up at the party's annual conference as an alternative youth wing.
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