Nearly 1 million young people aged 16-24 in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET), representing about one in eight of that age group, according to a government review commissioned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in November 2025 and led by Alan Milburn [1, 2, 3, 4]. More than half of these NEET youth have never worked [1, 2, 4].
About 25% of NEET youths are unable to work due to long-term sickness or disability, with 43% citing mental health problems as the primary reason, up from 24% in 2011 [1, 4]. Youth economic inactivity rates in the UK are higher than many developed countries, roughly twice the rate of Japan or Ireland and three times that of the Netherlands [1].
Milburn’s review highlights that the current generation of young people is shaped by a digital life marked by anxiety and mental ill-health, impacting their ability to adapt to traditional work structures. "They are not snowflakes. People say it’s a soft generation. My view unequivocally is that it isn’t. It is an anxious generation," Milburn said [1, 4]. He described the situation as "a catastrophic systems failure" and warned, "The system is trapping people in worklessness rather than enabling them into work. We’re at a risk of just writing a whole generation off" [1, 3].
The report criticizes government and Labour under Starmer for disjointed jobs programs and the lack of a cohesive strategy to tackle youth unemployment [3]. Labour Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden responded by announcing plans to expand youth work experience and training schemes, including 300,000 extra placements over three years and increases to Swaps sector-based work academies [2]. He described youth joblessness as "a quiet crisis, a ticking timebomb," especially for young people without family connections who face the dilemma of needing experience to get a job but lacking jobs to gain experience [2].
Data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows participation in youth work placements increases the likelihood of employment by 13% two years later, and 40% of participants move into sustained work within six months [2]. Yet, the UK spends £25 on keeping youth on benefits for every £1 spent supporting their employment, revealing an imbalance in funding [2].
Nearly 100,000 young people completed the Swaps six-week training schemes with guaranteed job interviews between 2025 and 2026, with 25,000 aged 16-24 starting one in 2026 alone [2].
Milburn calls for a "system reset" that overhauls health and disability benefits and aligns education, health, welfare, and labour policies to better support youth employment outcomes [3]. The interim report was published between May 23 and May 25, 2026, and Labour’s expanded placement schemes were announced on May 24, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4].
