{"id":632495,"date":"2026-10-16T14:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T14:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632495\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T14:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T14:44:10","slug":"neet-rates-higher-in-englands-smaller-cities-and-towns-than-in-biggest-cities-youth-unemployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632495\/","title":{"rendered":"Neet rates higher in England\u2019s smaller cities and towns than in biggest cities | Youth unemployment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smaller cities and towns across England<\/a> have higher rates of young people not in employment, education or training than the nine largest cities, analysis shows.<\/p>\n

The Centre for Cities, an independent thinktank dedicated to improving the economies of the UK, used 2021 census data to work out the rates<\/a> across 41 cities and towns in England.<\/p>\n

Of those places, 10 of the smallest cities and towns had higher rates of 16- to 24-year-olds out of employment and education \u2013 an average of 15.7% of their youth population, compared with an average of 13.9% across the nine largest cities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It comes amid a national debate over chronic youth unemployment in the UK, with the latest ONS data showing just under 1 million young people are not in employment, training or education (Neet).<\/p>\n

An interim report<\/a> published by the former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn in May found that the UK was \u201cat risk of a lost generation\u201d, with young adults facing a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of challenges. His final report is expected soon after the budget on 28 October.<\/p>\n

The Centre for Cities analysis shows London (117,095) and Birmingham (44,995) have the highest number of Neets in absolute terms, representing rates of 13.1% and 15.9% respectively. The average Neet rate across England is 12.6%.<\/p>\n

Sarah Davies, the executive director of employer engagement at Telford College in Shropshire, says there are multiple drivers for the Neets crisis, and no \u2018one size fits all\u2019 solution. Photograph: Andrew Fox\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

In Blackpool<\/a>, 2,660 of young people are not in education, employment or training, a rate of 21.2%. In Slough, 2,170 young people are Neet (14.1%). The Shropshire town of Telford has 2,780 Neets (15.1%).<\/p>\n

Rob Johnson, a senior analyst at the Centre for Cities, said the higher rates of Neets in smaller towns and cities were often a reflection of their general economic performance. In particular, he said such areas could be affected by their proximity to larger cities, but the figures could also be a reflection of the weakness of bigger city economies in the north and Midlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big root cause of higher rates of Neets in these places is because we know these are cities that have weaker economies,\u201d he said. \u201cThe big headline [is] of 1 million Neets across the country but it\u2019s actually more important to understand where those people are. The scale is important, but you just need to know the extent of the variation across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said the picture was mixed across smaller cities and towns. \u201cSomewhere like Slough, which is actually quite a productive economy, does have a relatively high rate of Neets. There\u2019s an issue there about connecting those people to the local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new youth employment hub in Telford shopping centre aims to connect young people with education, local employers and mentors. Photograph: Andrew Fox\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

For some in Telford<\/a>, 30 miles north of Birmingham, the answer to the UK\u2019s chronic crisis of youth unemployment may lie in its local shopping centre.<\/p>\n

The Skills Shop, a new youth employment hub opened by Telford College in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, aims to connect young people with education, local employers and mentors to tackle the high Neet rates in the region.<\/p>\n

Sarah Davies, the executive director of employer engagement and partnerships at Telford College, said there were multiple drivers for the Neets crisis, including the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health disorders and changes in the job market, and there was no \u201cone size fits all\u201d solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a national concern because young people are our future. If you\u2019re out of work, you\u2019re more likely to stay out of work,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you ask any young person, they\u2019d rather be working than sat at home. Nobody wants to sit at home on TikTok all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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George Bate, 21, has a degree in games design but found a lack of opportunity in gaming and a \u2018disheartening\u2019 lack of response to his job applications. Photograph: Andrew Fox\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

One of those benefiting from courses at the college is George Bate, 21, who is learning to become a HGV driver after graduating from university with a degree in games design. He said he had been unable to pursue a career in gaming due to a lack of opportunities and so embarked on the HGV course after he was signposted by the jobcentre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d applied to most of the stuff around the area and just didn\u2019t get a response, so that was the disheartening part. I couldn\u2019t find anywhere that was willing to take me,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of the time, it\u2019s not even a person who reviews any of your [applications].\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about narratives surrounding young people being \u201clazy\u201d, Bate said there was a lack of employment opportunities as well as an absence of career progression. \u201cIt makes it so much more stressful to find a career when you know that some of them don\u2019t have the correct amount of upward mobility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018We actually want to do work,\u2019 says Charlie Pryce, 19, who is also taking the HGV course. \u2018It\u2019s nice to get out there and do stuff.\u2019 Photograph: Andrew Fox\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Charlie Pryce, 19, is also taking the HGV course and said he had applied for other jobs but faced several barriers to further training and employment.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople our age, we\u2019ve got a long life ahead of us and we actually want to do work. We might not start off the best but I think we can grow into the role,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not nice sitting around not doing anything. It\u2019s nice to get out there and do stuff and feel like you\u2019re actually providing something and just working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Hounsell, the CEO of 4 All Foundation, a charity working across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said many of the young people he had worked with cited issues such as the lack of opportunities and barriers to transport. \u201cWe have lots of families not being able to afford to drive or not being able to afford public transport. That\u2019s a big problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Smaller cities and towns across England have higher rates of young people not in employment, education or training…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-632495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}