UK faces youth jobs crisis as number of ‘Neets’ rises to almost 1m

Experts have warned that the UK is facing a youth jobs crisis after a rise in the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) to almost 1 million, the highest level in more than a decade.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were an estimated 987,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were Neet in October to December last year, up from 877,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023 – the highest level since 2013.

Highlighting a stark rise in young people falling out of the jobs market since the height of the Covid pandemic, the number of Neets has soared by more than a quarter of a million in the past three years.

The figures mean one in eight young people across the country are now out of employment, education or training, at a time when Britain’s jobs market is cooling as employers grapple with planned tax increases from the government, elevated borrowing costs and sluggish economic growth.

The ONS cautioned there were issues with the quality of its labour force survey, meaning the data should be treated with caution. However, experts said there had been a clear rise in Neets in recent years.

Barry Fletcher, the chief executive of the Youth Futures Foundation, said the figures showed the UK was facing a jobs “crisis” for young people. “If we are to prevent long-term scarring effects for young people and achieve the economic growth needed in our country, then we need sustained focus on the issue.”

The government has grown increasingly alarmed by the breakdown in the critical years between school and work, amid warnings that failure to tackle the issue could hinder the economy and cause lasting damage for a whole generation of young people.

Labour announced plans late last year for a “youth guarantee” to ensure every young person has access to education or training to help them find a job, including through a programme of “youth trailblazer” schemes in eight English mayoral authorities, which is due to launch this spring.

Experts say the rise in the number of Neets comes after years of underfunding for employment support, alongside the impact from Covid lockdowns and a sharp rise in youth mental ill health.

Ben Harrison, the director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said large numbers of young people were actively looking for work but struggling to find it, with 392,000 unemployed – of which 64% are young men.

He said almost half of Neets risked missing out on the government’s youth guarantee. “The government should consider expanding these initiatives,” he said.

Business leaders have warned that youth hiring will be hit particularly hard by the government’s £25bn rise in employer national insurance contributions (Nics) and increase in the national living wage, both coming in from April, alongside a package of workers’ rights reforms going through parliament.

However, Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, argued that the “Tory legacy” of rising youth unemployment needed addressing with more state support, rather than low pay and deregulation.

“The youth guarantee is the right step,” he said. “But it must be part of a comprehensive plan to ensure all young people across the country can access high-quality training and decent, well-paid work as well as timely and effective healthcare.”