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Young people have suffered the biggest drop in income and employment of any group in society and now face greater barriers to achieving economic independence and success than they did half a decade ago, a major report warns.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) set out to find whether life had become fairer in the UK in recent years. It found that progress has “stalled” or even got worse for some groups, while many other people have enjoyed improvements.

A member of the commission warned that young people “have the worst economic prospects for several generations”.

Related: Why a quarter of people in Wales still live in poverty

A key finding is that being poor has a far bigger impact on the chances of doing well at school for white people than it does for other ethnic groups. Chinese and Indian pupils out-perform other children and Bangladeshis and Pakistanis have seen the biggest improvements in education.

Black workers have suffered one of the biggest falls in wages and Muslim people have the lowest employment rate of any religious group.

There are also concerns about an “increase in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crime”, and the EHRC is alarmed that in Wales women account for up just 27% of councillors.

The report also lays bare just how badly hit people under the age of 34 were hit during the recession and up to 2013.

They suffered the steepest fall in incomes and employment, had less access to decent housing and better paid jobs, and faced deepening poverty.

Here’s what the report found:

Poverty

The report states: “A greater proportion of people were living in poverty in Wales (23.0%) in 2012/13 compared with England (19.3%) and Scotland (18.3%).”

Suicide

There has been an “increased suicide rate in England and Wales, resulting in a widening of the gap between men and women, with middle-aged men particularly at risk”.

Between 2008 and 2013, the overall suicide rate increased in Wales from 10.7 to 15.6 per 100,000 people – most notably among the 35–64 age groups.

The recession

The researchers found that “Wales saw the most severe initial decline. Scotland went into recession slightly later.

“After the recession, England recovered more strongly than Wales or Scotland.”

Children in care

In Wales, the report shows, “the attainment of children in the care system was well below that of other pupils. In Scotland, the gap narrowed but remained large.”

Good GCSEs

There is a clear gender gap when it comes to school performance in Wales. According to the report’s authors: “Girls in Wales improved from 51.3% in 2009 to 57% in 2013, while for boys the increase went from 43.3% to 48.7%.”

In Wales in 2013, children with special educational needs (SEN) were less likely to achieve at least five good GCSEs than other pupils – 6.8% compared with 63.2%.

In 2012-13, the exclusion rate for children with SEN was 96.5 per 1,000 pupils, compared with 20.1.

Disabilities

In Wales in 2013, 21.1% of disabled people had no qualifications, compared with 7.8% for non-disabled people.

Fewer than half (47%) of disabled people in 2013 had accessed the internet in the last three months compared with 86% of non-disabled people. The disability employment gap was highest in Wales and Scotland.

Work hungry

(Image: Philip Toscano/PA Wire)

More than one in five “economically active” 16 to 24 year-olds were looking for work across England, Scotland and Wales in 2013 compared with fewer than one in 10 for most other age groups.

Traveller communities

According to the report, “a much higher proportion of Traveller caravans in Wales (62%) were on socially rented sites than in England (34%)”.

Violent crime

In 2012-13, people aged 16-34 in Wales were most likely to have experienced violent crime.

Vanishing buses

Local authorities cut or withdrew 2,000 bus routes in England and 179 in Wales since 2009.

Discrimination

In Wales, the report claims, young people people from ethnic minorities and minority religions and disabled people were more likely to report discrimination, harassment or abuse for any reason in the previous 12 months. People from ethnic minorities were “almost three times as likely as white people to report this (19.5% compared with 6.8%)”.

Political participation

Researchers found a “higher proportion of people in Scotland (63%) had taken part in specified political activities than in Wales (59%) and England (56%).”

Are we facing a lost generation?

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady commented: “The Government can no longer afford to ignore the plight of young people, who are struggling to cope with poverty pay, deteriorating job prospects and the increased cost of housing.

“This report should be wake-up call to ministers. Hiking up university and college fees and excluding young people from the new higher minimum wage rate is not the way to build a fair and prosperous Britain. It is the blueprint for a lost generation.

“Without better employment and training opportunities many young people will continue to be shut of the recovery.”

A new Commons committee pledges to investigate

Maria Miller, the Bridgend-raised chair of the women and equalities committee, said: “If the Government wants this country to be a fairer place to live they need the right plans in place to tackle inequalities highlighted in this important report from the EHRC... Many of the challenges highlighted in this report will form the subject of our inquiries.”

This is what the Welsh Government has to say:

“We are pleased the report shows good progress has been made in many key areas in Wales, including a fall in homelessness and decreased stigma around mental health. While the UK Government’s ongoing austerity measures are hitting Welsh families hard, we will continue to do all we can to increase prosperity and promote fairness and equality across Wales.

“We welcome this comprehensive and wide-ranging report and will now take time to consider its findings in detail.”

And here’s the view of Ann Beynon, the EHRC Commissioner for Wales:

“This report shows that progress towards equality has been made for some people in certain areas of life. However, many people are being left behind.

“Young people have been particularly badly-hit over the last five years, with life on many fronts getting worse. The gateway to opportunity remains harder to pass through for some groups, such as disabled people and people from poorer backgrounds.

“The report highlights mental ill-health as a key challenge. Another challenge is to improve living conditions in communities to address significant inequalities in housing conditions and living standards.

“Other areas requiring significant improvement are preventing abuse, neglect and ill-treatment in care and detention and eliminating violence, harassment and abuse in the community.

“We have opportunities to make progress in Wales and we will be publishing a Wales report in December. We want to see political parties responding to the challenges set by the evidence we are presenting.

“The EHRC has a crucial role in ensuring our evidence is a catalyst for change but everyone has an important part to play in achieving a fairer Wales.”

Fellow EHRC Commissioner Laura Carstensen, said: “It’s great to see the barriers being lowered over the last five years for some people: but during the same period they’ve been raised higher for younger people in particular. Theirs are the shoulders on which the country will rely to provide for a rapidly ageing population, yet they have the worst economic prospects for several generations.”

The UK Government has this to say

A UK Government spokesperson said: “We have made good progress in many areas, by getting two million more people in work, raising wages, and having more children in good or outstanding schools than ever before. But we know there is still some way to go to fix the issues highlighted in this report.

“We are committed to building a Britain where hard working people can succeed and anyone get on in life, irrespective of their background.”