There are nearly a million young people in the UK who are not involved in work or education. This shows evidence that it can change

Keir Starmer says the current benefits system is unsustainable and unfair and needs to be changed to avoid wasted generations of young people who are not educated, employed or trained (NEET).

The government is concerned about the rise in NEETs, aged 16 to 24, and by December 2024 it was estimated at 987,000 in the UK. This is 13.4% of all young people in this age group. An increase from about 11% in the period before the start of the pandemic is associated with long-term illness among economically inactive people.

Approximately 40% of NEET young people are unemployed (looking for jobs rather than jobs), while the other 60% are inactive (looking for jobs). Over the course of the pandemic, the number of young people suffering from inactive mental health problems due to long-term illnesses has risen sharply.

This is obviously a concern, but it’s not entirely new. The number of ages 16-34 in mental health conditions that are economically inactive due to long-term illnesses has increased from about 100,000 in 2013 to about 180,000 at the start of the pandemic. This figure is currently over 250,000. This long-term trend is part of a wide increase in the prevalence of disability across the UK’s aging population.

When discussing the specifics of youth, social policy experts like me use the label Neet. “Inactivity” includes people in education, and simply using the unemployment rate among young people does not understand the scale of the challenge.

Young people (and especially fewer young people) tend to become NEETs when they transition from school to learning after 2016 and then from learning to work. However, the lack of robust data on these transitions means we still don’t fully understand it.

Historically, the current economic inactivity rate across age groups is not actually very high. The rate of NEET among young people has been a long-standing challenge, but it seems to be the most sensitive to the economic cycle. For example, the NEET rate for ages 18-24 last peaked during the post-financial crisis period of 2008.

What can help bring young people to work?

The recently announced welfare reform aims to address some of these long-term issues, specifically limiting eligibility for individuals for independent payments (PIP) and suggestions to prevent those under the age of 22 from being eligible for incompetent benefits.

Liz Kendall, secretary of labor and pensions, said these and other changes would save more than £5 billion a year by the end of the decade. But this isn’t just about saving money. As the government has repeatedly said, it also brings young people to work.

But when you try to save both money and generations, it seems like a tall order. Can I do both?

You save money by lowering the level of profit and limiting eligibility, and it is certainly compulsory for some people to get jobs (rather than “help”). However, this is not an approach that addresses the mental and physical health challenges facing this generation.

The discussion of “what works” cannot ignore the need to increase employment opportunities for those at the highest risk of becoming a NEET. Ideally, this is due to improved economic growth driven by investment. This increases productivity, creates new jobs and, importantly, improves the quality of employment and wages.

But once again we face the same challenges as the UK’s productivity rise and economic conditions have come to be worse since the financial crisis has weakened. Many young people face barriers to progress, even if they are qualified at a degree level. For example, accessing many jobs that pay better wages is not easy, as they are part of a country where the cost of living is particularly high.

It is positive to see that the government is also investing in mental health support as part of its reforms, highlighting a large amount of evidence-based intervention. For example, there is strong evidence that relatively mild touch cognitive behavioral therapy and NHS talking therapy can improve employment outcomes.

The welfare reform package also includes £1 billion a year to support employment. Kendall suggests that this could be used in programs such as Work Choice, a voluntary employment program for people with disabilities who may interfere with their work or be at risk of losing their jobs.

There is compelling evidence that people who participated in the program before the pandemic experienced an increase in employment rates between 11 and 12 points. We also know that even short entry-level training for highly skilled, unemployed youth can have a huge impact, increasing employment rates by 5 percentage points.

Government change programmes are evidence-based and should be praised for starting to recognize that they will tackle long-standing issues of NEETs among young people. Welfare announcements are helpful, but they need to address the root cause of the UK’s high NEET rate.

The youth transition needs to be better managed by all government agencies, especially for those with mental health challenges. Also, better jobs need to be available to young people who are disillusioned with the education system.

With the package of measures announced, some way can help grow the economy. However, some support needs to be launched even earlier. Young people who don’t do well in school have few educational and employment options. This is the true tragedy of a lost generation.

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