Work Matters 2026: No NEET solution? Tackling youth unemployment in the UK

The UK has had a significant population of young people aged 16-24 not in education, employment, or training for over 20 years but the challenge for policymakers has evolved.

The number of NEETs remains stubbornly close to one million – or one in eight young people aged 16-24 – after a large rise following the pandemic. Three in five are not actively looking for work or studying and recent DWP data indicates are now classed as disabled (45.8%) – a rise of 24.3 percentage points since 2013/14.

Even when in work, Work Foundation analysis suggests young people are facing a tough start to working life. They are twice as likely to end up in insecure, poorly paid jobs and, with unemployment across the labour market rising and vacancies falling, nearly half of 16-24 year olds report being concerned about losing their job in the next 12 months (48%).

The Government has responded to the immediate challenge by announcing an £820 million youth participation package, while also appointing Rt Hon Alan Milburn to lead an investigation into the root causes of record unemployment and inactivity among 16 to 24 year olds. However, will these interventions be able to effectively reverse this worrying trend?

Join the Work Foundation and a panel of experts to review the latest ONS figures on young people aged 16 to 24 years not in education, employment or training, and discuss what it means for young people, local communities, the labour market and the Government.

Speakers will be announced in due course.