Almost a Million Young Britons Are Neither Working Nor Studying

Just under one million young people in the UK were not in education, employment or training between April and June, according to Office for National Statistics data published ahead of a major review of what ministers have begun calling a lost generation.

The figure — 981,000 people aged 16 to 24, roughly one in eight — is down from the more than one million recorded in the first three months of the year, but up 3% on the same period last year, when it stood at 951,000.

Two readings of the same number

The quarterly fall lets ministers argue the problem has peaked. The annual rise says the underlying trend has not turned. Both are true, which is why the figure has become contested rather than settled.

What is not in dispute is the scale. Nearly a million people at the start of their working lives, detached from both the labour market and the education system, is a cohort large enough to shape tax receipts, benefit spending and productivity for a decade.

What comes next

The final instalment of a review by former minister Alan Milburn is expected within weeks and will set out recommendations. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has said ministers will take those forward — a commitment made before anyone has seen them.

The hard part is composition. The Neet total mixes young people between courses, those with health conditions, carers, and those who have simply stopped looking. Each needs a different intervention, and policy that treats the aggregate as one problem has a long record of missing most of it.