Neets dip below one million as Labour blamed for youth unemployment
The number of Neets, who are young people not in employment, education or training, has fallen marginally below the one million mark, the UK’s official data body said.
The Office for National Statistics said it estimated the number of people aged between 16 and 24 out of work to be about 981,000 in the three months to June 2026.
This was down from a previous figure of 1,012,000 between January and March, a figure which raised alarm among policymakers and economists over the unhealthy state of the jobs market.
The ONS has warned for several months that vacancy levels are at a five-year low while the Neets tsar Alan Milburn said the youth unemployment crisis was costing the UK economy about £125bn a year.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made tackling the Neet crisis a key pillar of his premiership so far and has pledged to give companies more incentives to open apprenticeships and hire younger workers.
Over the last month, Burnham has expanded Labour’s ‘Youth Jobs Guarantee’ programme, which offers bosses some £2,000 to take on young workers and ensures people receiving Universal Credit get six months of paid work.
On Thursday, the government announced that it would roll out the jobs scheme to areas with “some of the highest levels of youth unemployment”, including Essex, Greater Manchester and Birmingham.
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, said the government was “determined to turn the tide on the youth unemployment crisis” and argued it has been “years in the making”
“These latest figures underline why we are addressing youth inactivity as a priority,” he said. “The Jobs Guarantee is already supporting those most in need with the first young people to be supported by the scheme now in work, and our wider £2.5bn investment will help create almost a million opportunities to earn or learn.”
Milburn is set to publish a review of the crisis and potential solutions in the coming weeks.
Political divide on Neets crisis
Official numbers on the jobs crunch facing young people has coincided with a raft of further statistics on visa applications by migrants.
The Home Office said on Thursday that about 235,000 work visas were issued in the 12 months to June while another 383,000 study visas were handed out.
Reform UK officials have sought to draw a link between high youth unemployment and immigration levels, with the party pledging to make it cheaper for employers to hire British workers than take on employees from overseas.
The Tory opposition has hit out at the tax burden hitting employers and stopping bosses from hiring young people.
Helen Whately, who shadows McFadden, said: “Something has gone badly wrong for a generation of young people. The opportunities that previous generations took for granted are not there in the way they once were.
“Labour have destroyed job opportunities for young people with their jobs tax and employment red tape. That has put the brakes on businesses hiring young people, giving us the highest youth unemployment in over a decade and nearly a million young people out of education, employment, or training.”