THE British government has published a guide for parents of jobless graduates, urging them to show their offspring some 'tough love'.

Mollycoddling mothers and fathers should resist the urge to make home too comfortable for their recently qualified children, the government guide said.

The manual, published on Tuesday, instructs parents to show a bit of 'tough love' as they try to encourage their children to get a job. That means making them do their own washing and ironing, emptying the fridge of student-friendly snacks and cutting back on handouts, the Guardian newspaper reported.

The guide also has blunt advice for those with lofty ambitions: 'Yes, some people will make it as actors and scriptwriters, but many just waste away the years.'

Almost one in 10 people was without a job after leaving university last year, as unemployment rates hit a record high in Britain. More than a fifth of students at some institutions were left without work or a postgraduate place six months after graduation, the Telegraph said.


WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR PARENTS?