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Vape shops but no jobs: one young man\u2019s search for work in Grimsby<\/p>\n
This video, from my Guardian colleagues, shows how the Neets crisis is playing out in Grimsby, where 19-year old Cohen is desperate to find a permanent job while running a mascot hire company and chasing his dream of becoming a professional wrestler:<\/p>\n
Employers\u2019 biggest complaint about young people is their \u2018work readiness\u2019, Milburn continues, emphasising the importance of work experience.<\/p>\n He tells Radio 4:<\/p>\n double quotation markJust a few days ago, we were talking to Marks and Spencers, to John Lewis, to all of these employers. And the biggest complaint that people have is about what work readiness.<\/p>\n They know that the young people have got qualifications. What they worry more about is whether schools have gifted them the attributes that are needed for the workplace. And that is all about communication, collaboration, agility, adaptability, skills.<\/p>\n We do badly internationally when it comes to work experience. We\u2019ve got to change it.<\/p>\n Milburn is due to release recommendations to fix the Neets crisis in the autumn. That could potentially include compulsary work experience for young people, as the boss of Amazon UK called for this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Milburn: UK’s ‘chronic’ Neets problem is worse than other countries<\/p>\n Q: Is the Neets problem worse in the UK than in other countries?<\/p>\n Yes it is, Alan Milburn replies.<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s Neets rate is three times as high as in Holland, and twice as high as Ireland, he says. Britain has moved down the international league table in recent times.<\/p>\n He calls it a \u201cchronic problem\u201d that is getting worse not better, with no plan to deal with it.<\/p>\n Young people are caught in a \u201cperfect storm\u201d, he continues, where the first rung on the career ladder is further out of reach for them.<\/p>\n The number of jobs in low and medium-skilled occupations have declined by over a million over the last 20 years. Apprenticeship starts are down by about a third in the last ten years, and the Saturday job has disappeared, Milburn points out.<\/p>\n That\u2019s compounded by a welfare system created to deal with \u201cyesterday\u2019s problem\u201d of cyclical youth unemployment. Today, the challenge is \u201cyouth detachment\u201d, he adds.<\/p>\n As Milburn puts it:<\/p>\n double quotation markPeople always talk about welfare and they\u2019re right to do so. But this is a problem in the labour market, in the welfare system, in the school system, in the skills system and in the health system.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not reforms that you need. It\u2019s a radical reset.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Milburn: the silence kills hopes for Neets<\/p>\n Alan Milburn is discussing his new report into the Neet crisis now, on Radio 4\u2019s Today Programme.<\/p>\n Milburn emphasisis that the UK risks a \u201clost generation\u201d of young people out of work, training or education, with many being rebuffed when they apply for work, or never even hear back.<\/p>\n Milburn says:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt\u2019s the silence that kills, it dents confidence. But more importantly, it kills hope.<\/p>\n He adds that 84% of the Neets his team surveyed actually want to be in work or training :<\/p>\n double quotation markThere\u2019s no shortage of effort on their part. Now the shortage is of opportunity and of support.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.24 EDT<\/p>\n New data from Zoopla this morning highlights the affortability challenges facing first-time buyers, showing:<\/p>\n First-time buyers are targeting homes worth \u00a310,000 more than a year ago, with average prices up 4.3% to \u00a3254,750 \u2014 nearly 3x the rate of UK house price growth<\/p>\n There are 6% fewer first time buyers in the market than this time last year.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Milburn correct to reject \u201clazy tropes\u201d around youth unemployment<\/p>\n Economists have been welcoming Alan Milburn\u2019s report into the UK\u2019s Neets crisis, even before its official launch later today.<\/p>\n George Bangham, head of social policy at the New Economics<\/a> Foundation (NEF), has said Milburn is correct to reject the \u201clazy tropes\u201d about this problem somehow being young people\u2019s own responsibility, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cMost young people want to work, but too few jobs are available to them in many local areas, as NEF research has shown. Job vacancies are at their lowest level in 12 years, outside of the pandemic lockdowns \u2013 and young people are struggling more than others to land the few jobs available.<\/p>\n The Resolution Foundation thinktank says Milburn is correct to identify \u201crising ill health, limited vocational education, a hands-off benefits system, and a weak labour market\u201d as key drivers of the UK\u2019s NEET rate.<\/p>\n Lindsay Judge, research director at the Resolution Foundation said:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cIt is encouraging to see how strongly the Milburn Review\u2019s interim report recognises the gravity of the UK\u2019s Neets crisis. Our ambition should be that the UK becomes one of Europe\u2019s lowest Neet countries rather than one of its highest.<\/p>\n \u201cThe report has grasped the key drivers of the UK\u2019s high Neet rate, and the steps needed to tackle these: more engaged employment support, early intervention on mental health, and a greater focus on further education.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there are real fiscal and structural challenges ahead. There is no single system currently in place to solve this crisis, so the Government will need to develop a new approach that spans government departments as well as regional and local authorities, plus find the funding to truly turn the Neets crisis around.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>First-time buyers facing toughest challenge since financial crisis<\/p>\n UK home ownership is increasingly out of reach for young people, David Thomas, the outgoing chief executive of Barratt Redrow is warning today.<\/p>\n In an interview with the BBC<\/a>, Thomas says that now is one of the most difficult times to get on to the housing ladder, comparable only with the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008.<\/p>\n Thomas blamed rising interest rates, student loan deductions and the squeeze on real wages for making it harder to buy a new home in 2026, saying:<\/p>\n double quotation markCertainly it\u2019s going to be close to where we were [after] the great financial crisis.<\/p>\n That was probably more to do with lending, but I think it\u2019s very, very comparable for first-time buyers. We\u2019re now facing challenges around affordability with no government support scheme in place.<\/p>\n![\"Vape](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779955149_89_1920.jpg\")
Vape shops but no jobs: one young man\u2019s search for work in GrimsbyShare<\/a><\/p>\n