Some young people are at risk of being unemployed for life, according to a new report by the Prince's Trust.
The number of young people unemployed for more than two years is at its highest for two decades according to the Trust, and the number it works with has also risen.
Those aged 18-24 are bearing the brunt of the recession, and there are now more than three times as many long-term unemployed now as there were ten years ago.
There is more bad news for the lost generation: although more than 3.5 million youngsters are in work, this is the lowest figure since records began in 1992 and is less than half of all people of that age.
The deep economic downturn has had a devastating effect, with the risk that some could be left behind permanently unless they receive the employment support they need.
Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford, said: “The UK could be at risk of a youth jobs crisis, as youth employment rates are falling. If we fail to invest in the right support for our young adults then we are storing up trouble for the future.
"On top of this, thousands of young people have returned to education to escape the ever-growing dole queue. When these young people return to the workforce, there is a risk that this could burst the banks of an already flooded jobs market."