A better deal: Tackling the NEET crisis

Young people are more than three times as likely to be unemployed as the wider workforce and around two-thirds of the recent increase in NEET numbers has been among those who are no longer looking for work. Many young people face multiple, complex and interacting barriers to entering employment.

The consequences extend well beyond the labour market. For most young people, work is one of the foundations of adult life. It provides income, but also routine, purpose, confidence, relationships and a growing sense of independence. Spending long periods outside work and education can make that transition much harder. It increases the risk of lower earnings, poorer health and long-term economic insecurity, while delaying the milestones that many young people associate with adulthood – from leaving home to building a career or starting a family.

Rebuilding opportunity requires action in three areas, spanning education, employment, skills and welfare policy. To succeed, they need to be brought together under one unifying, ambitious brand – A New Youth Contract – to ensure young people experience a cohesive offer, not disconnected schemes.