A line graph showing fluctuations in the number of 16- to 25-year-olds not in employment, education or training<\/a>3. Health issues, including mental health, play a huge role<\/p>\nHealth, Milburn says, \u201chas become central to who becomes Neet and who stays Neet\u201d, calling this \u201ca story that should disturb anyone who cares about the future of young people in this country\u201d.<\/p>\n
Young people in this state, the report says, are now more likely to be economically inactive (53%) than unemployed (47%), with increasing amounts of health-based inactivity due to anxiety, depression or neurodevelopmental conditions. This has long-term consequences, with about seven in 10 young people who claim a health and disability benefit still doing so a decade later.<\/p>\n
Among factors making this worse, the report says, is an NHS based more around categorising young people as unable to work rather than helping them back into it, calling GPs\u2019 \u201cfit note\u201d system \u201cthe poster child for this structural failure\u201d.<\/p>\n
4. The social security system does not help<\/p>\n
The study estimates that for every \u00a325 the Department for Work and Pensions spends on benefits for young people, it devotes just \u00a31 to helping them back into work, calling this symptomatic of a system which does little to change things.<\/p>\n
What support into work or training does exist tends to be focused on those with the fewest barriers, it says, with those facing more difficulties often being left alone. Of those who first claim a health or disability benefit aged 16 to 24, almost half are still out of work or education a decade later.<\/p>\n
This is not a cause of Neet status, the report argues, but it \u201coften amplifies it\u201d. Thus, while the UK and the Netherlands have similar rates of anxiety conditions among young people, the Dutch Neet rate is notably lower.<\/p>\n
5. The labour market is difficult<\/p>\n
As part of the study, Milburn talked directly to young people who recounted gloomy tales of sending off dozens of CVs that were sifted and rejected by AI, or who were tested via AI simulations, being repeatedly turned down for work without ever talking to a human.<\/p>\n
Entry-level jobs, the report says, are becoming harder to get, in part because of this remote recruitment, but also because the roles traditionally filled by younger people \u2013 retail, customer service, warehousing \u2013 are now either scarcer or more specialised.<\/p>\n
Milburn finds also that employers are less willing to take on younger staff, in part due to relatively higher minimum wages, but also because some companies fear what the report calls the \u201cpastoral burden\u201d of young people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
6. There are many structural issues <\/p>\n
These occur throughout the report, and include subjects as basic as the housing market. As many young people assume they will never be able to afford their own home, there is a lack of the stability required to plan work or training.<\/p>\n
The report also notes that while the UK\u2019s schools often perform well by international metrics in terms of academic attainment, most young people felt they were given no real support about what came next.<\/p>\n
More widely, it highlights a fragmented and hugely varied system for helping young people, with minimal monitoring or accountability.<\/p>\n
7. This is not about laziness or a generation unsuited to work<\/p>\n
Heading off a common refrain in this debate, Milburn makes it very plain that he rejects the \u201csometimes cruel\u201d myths about a generation with no interest in work, or that hides behind the excuse of poor mental health, saying the overwhelming majority of Neets want to find work, education or training.<\/p>\n
They are, however, a product of a changed world: \u201cYoung people are different from those who came before them. Not worse. Not lazier. Not less intelligent. But different in ways that have material consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. This is a very significant and increasing problem About 1 million young people across the UK are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-609579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}