UK faces youth jobs disaster as variety of ‘Neets’ rises to nearly 1m | UK unemployment and employment statistics

Specialists have warned that the UK is dealing with a youth jobs disaster after an increase within the variety of younger folks not in schooling, employment or coaching (Neet) to nearly 1 million, the very best degree in additional than a decade.

Figures from the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics present there have been an estimated 987,000 younger folks aged 16 to 24 who had been Neet in October to December final yr, up from 877,000 within the fourth quarter of 2023 – the very best degree since 2013.

Highlighting a stark rise in younger folks falling out of the roles market because the peak of the Covid pandemic, the variety of Neets has soared by greater than 1 / 4 of one million prior to now three years.

The figures imply one in eight younger folks throughout the nation at the moment are out of employment, schooling or coaching, at a time when Britain’s jobs market is cooling as employers grapple with deliberate tax will increase from the federal government, elevated borrowing prices and sluggish financial development.

The ONS cautioned there have been points with the standard of its labour pressure survey, that means the info ought to be handled with warning. Nonetheless, consultants mentioned there had been a transparent rise in Neets lately.

Barry Fletcher, the chief government of the Youth Futures Basis, mentioned the figures confirmed the UK was dealing with a jobs “disaster” for younger folks. “If we’re to forestall long-term scarring results for younger folks and obtain the financial development wanted in our nation, then we’d like sustained give attention to the difficulty.”

The federal government has grown more and more alarmed by the breakdown within the crucial years between college and work, amid warnings that failure to deal with the difficulty might hinder the financial system and trigger lasting injury for an entire era of younger folks.

Labour introduced plans late final yr for a “youth assure” to make sure each younger individual has entry to schooling or coaching to assist them discover a job, together with by a programme of “youth trailblazer” schemes in eight English mayoral authorities, which is because of launch this spring.

Specialists say the rise within the variety of Neets comes after years of underfunding for employment help, alongside the affect from Covid lockdowns and a pointy rise in youth psychological sick well being.

Ben Harrison, the director of the Work Basis at Lancaster College, mentioned giant numbers of younger folks had been actively in search of work however struggling to search out it, with 392,000 unemployed – of which 64% are younger males.

He mentioned nearly half of Neets risked lacking out on the federal government’s youth assure. “The federal government ought to contemplate increasing these initiatives,” he mentioned.

Enterprise leaders have warned that youth hiring can be hit notably laborious by the federal government’s £25bn rise in employer nationwide insurance coverage contributions (Nics) and improve within the nationwide dwelling wage, each coming in from April, alongside a bundle of employees’ rights reforms going by parliament.

Nonetheless, Paul Nowak, the overall secretary of the TUC, argued that the “Tory legacy” of rising youth unemployment wanted addressing with extra state help, relatively than low pay and deregulation.

“The youth assure is the proper step,” he mentioned. “But it surely have to be a part of a complete plan to make sure all younger folks throughout the nation can entry high-quality coaching and first rate, well-paid work in addition to well timed and efficient healthcare.”