By the first quarter of 2025, an estimated 923,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK aren’t in education, employment, or training. This group is commonly known as NEET. This figure underscores the deeply daunting reality facing millions of young people today. Yet they are finding themselves more often locked out of the job market. Despite a decrease of 64,000 NEETs since the end of 2024, the reality remains stark: nearly a million young people are being written off, according to Liz Kendall, Shadow Minister for Social Care.
Libby, a 20-year-old from Manchester, is one of many who’ve had their plans to enter the workforce derailed. Now she has resorted to going door-to-door, literally bringing her CV to anyone who’ll accept it in hopes of landing employment. “I’ve applied for factories, care work, hospital work – anything to just get a job to support me and my son,” Libby stated. Her spirit shows us the fire with which youth are fighting as economic inactivity for young people surges.
Inaz Hussain, 23, has been job-seeking for six months after an education that provided him with short-term contracts and internships. He expressed frustration over his job search, stating, “I’ve lost track of how many jobs I’ve applied to.” Like most young people, he is very much aware of the judgment of society. “We just hear that we’re lazy, we’re not resilient,” he added. Inaz is one of the 354,000 young Muslims who currently want to work but can’t because of barriers to employment.
The impact is especially acute for individuals living with mental health conditions. As for mental health problems, in 2023 almost one in five Neets said they had experienced difficulties. For Tegan, a young woman from Newquay, the impact of poor mental health has been profound. Because of this, she has suffered from economic inactivity and has not passed her important GCSE subjects. “It’s really difficult when you’re trying to recover and get yourself back on track, and as well as doing that you have to fight your way through a system that isn’t all that supportive,” she noted.
That’s a tall order considering the economic landscape for young people has shifted dramatically in just the past three years. An increase in long-term sickness has played a major part in their inactivity. Most of the Neets, if you put them in these categories, are economically inactive, that they’re actually not looking for work. There is still a significant cohort of young people out of work but keen to work.
Of them, it is important to note that graduates account for nearly 10.6% of Neet figures, nearly 90,000 people. This statistic raises concerns about the effectiveness of higher education in securing stable employment for young graduates like Inaz, who remarked, “Yes I got a degree, but what can I show for it?”
In recognition of the ongoing crisis, the government has announced a new £45 million boost. This new funding will help get a youth guarantee program off the ground, so that every young person has a real shot at succeeding. This new initiative is an important step toward addressing the systemic barriers that drive high NEET rates. It especially hones in on areas such as Cornwall that have borne the brunt. The area is burdened with specific challenges including a lack of year-round work, no housing people can afford, and an insufficient network of mental health care support.
Even with these obvious investments happening at the federal level, too many young people are still coming up short and feeling discouraged in their situation. One unidentified job seeker expressed the frustration many feel on a daily basis: “Day to day it is depressing because you don’t hear anything back. You’re constantly trying to find a job, trying to fight for a job, and you hear nothing.”
After the training, Libby is hopeful about her future. She’s currently working towards a first aid course through her local charity center, with a referral from a job center. Her determination to take the initiative speaks to her thirst for growth and overcoming obstacles. On that bigger point, we’re reminded just how desperately the systemic change is needed in how our society invests in and tends to its young people.
