The UK's young unemployed could form a dole queue stretching from London to Edinburgh, research by MPs and the Commons library has calculated.

As MPs prepare to launch a new cross-party group dealing with youth unemployment, the figures suggest that out-of-work 16- to 24-year-olds could stand in a line that extends for 434 miles.

This is equivalent to an area the size of Leeds, assuming each young person has 0.75 metres (2.5 feet) square to stand in. The figures were worked out for the new all-party group on youth unemployment, launched by Pamela Nash, at 29 the youngest MP in the House of Commons. Other members of the group include the Tory MPs Zac Goldsmith and Laura Sandys, the Lib Dems Julian Huppert and John Leech, and the former Labour home secretary Lord Reid.

About 917,000 young people in the UK are classified as unemployed, with half claiming jobseeker's allowance.

Nash, the Labour MP for Aidrie and Shotts, said the situation was a national disgrace, adding: "I want to ensure that … youth unemployment remains a top priority for both governments and for all politicians in Edinburgh and London." Youth unemployment dropped slightly in the past three months of 2013, but the rate still remains stubbornly high at 19.9% of 16- to 24-year-olds.

According to the Office for National Statistics, young people in the UK appear to have borne the brunt of the financial crisis, with a larger proportion them now out of work than any other age group.

The unemployment rate among 16- to 17-year-olds is 35.9%, and 18% among 18- to 24-year-olds, according to the latest economic review by the statistics watchdog.

In contrast, the rate falls to 4.7% among 35- to 49-year-olds, and 4.4% among 50- to 64-year-olds. Those aged between 18 and 24 accounted for almost 30% of the rise in the unemployment rate between the first quarter of 2008 and the peak in unemployment in the fourth quarter of 2011, roughly double their proportion of the labour force.

A DWP spokesman said: "The number of young people in work increased by 49,000 in the last 3 months with the number claiming Jobseeker's Allowance falling for the last 20 months.

"We know there is still more to do but more young people in work means more people have the security of a regular wage."