NEET numbers fall but young people still face jobs crisis: 'This is not a turning point'

The number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) has fallen below a million, new figures show – but “this is not a turning point,” experts have warned.

Some 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were NEET between April and June this year, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is around 13% of that age group, or one-in-eight.

The figures are down slightly from the January to March quarter, during which 1,011,000 young people were recorded as NEET.  

However, they are still 3% higher than figures for the same period last year, when 951,000 young people were affected. This longer-term increase highlights the scale of the crisis, said Ben Harrison, Director, the Work Foundation at Lancaster University.

“Today’s figures indicate there are no quick fixes to the youth employment crisis facing the UK,” he said.

“The number of young people out of education, employment or training may have dipped just below one million, but it would be a mistake to assume this is a turning point as it remains 30,000 higher than a year ago.”

“Although more young people are now looking for work than a year ago, they are doing so at a particularly difficult moment to take their first steps into the labour market.”

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According to Work Foundation research, the number of ‘starter’ jobs accessible to people entering work for the first time has fallen by 49% over the last decade, leaving only one starter vacancy for every three NEET young people nationally. Over a third (36%) report having cut entry-level jobs in the last year.

Businesses have blamed recent employer national insurance and minimum wage hikes. Meanwhile the rapid adoption of generative AI has automated much administrative work that used to give young people a foot in the door.

Earlier this week, prime minister Andy Burnham called on employers to offer work experience opportunities for young people.

“We need a national drive to challenge youth unemployment,” he said as Sainsbury’s announced it will create around 10,000 work experience and skills opportunities over the next year. The government has also announced a change to the education system, asking schools to develop technical and vocational courses for children from the age of 14 onwards.

Being NEET can have long term consequences for a young person. According to a UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies report from earlier this year, persistent NEET young people were almost six times more likely to be out of work in midlife. They were around three times more likely to report poor health, and roughly twice as likely to report high psychological distress later in life.

“Good work can be the difference between a healthy future and a lifetime of disadvantage,” said John Hume, People’s Health Trust chief executive.

“When opportunities dry up, not everyone faces the same risks. Young people already experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage are often the first to be locked out of work and the last to benefit from economic recovery.”

According to the Health Foundation, nearly half of young people who are considered NEET now report a health condition that limits their ability to work.

The government-commissioned Milburn Review to tackle youth worklessness expected to deliver its final recommendations in the autumn.

Launching his interim review in May, former Labour cabinet minister Milburn said that young people want to work, but the opportunities aren’t there. “The story of not trying, being soft, being a snowflake generation – I just don’t buy it.”

He attributed the NEET crisis to many different factors: rising ill health, a weak labour market, a changing online world, limited vocational education and a hands-off benefits system were deemed key drivers of youth unemployment.

Last week, Big Issue spoke to two young people struggling to find work about what their experiences have been like.

“I could go on forever about the experiences I’ve had with employment,” Wren Hill, a 23-year-old care leaver from the North East of England, told us. “It’s just not a very good state for employment, especially for young people.”

Big Issue is also working to support young people who are out of work. Big Issue Recruit is a free recruitment helping people who have faced barriers to employment, such as homelessness, get into work.

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