Official statistics released today show 957,000 young people in the UK are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), a 2.1 percentage-point increase since before the pandemic. New analysis from the education and employment charity Impetus reveals this post-pandemic surge is currently costing the UK economy nearly £21bn a year in lost GDP.
Beyond the economic cost, high NEET levels have scarring effects on young people, which are not felt equally:
- Spending time unemployed under the age of 23 has been linked to lower wages even two decades later.
- Those who are NEET at 18–19 are 20% more likely to be unemployed 10 years on.
- Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are twice as likely to be NEET than their better-off peers, with qualifications only accounting for half the difference.
Certain demographic factors compound this risk. Previous Impetus research found that a young person from a disadvantaged background with low qualifications and special educational needs and disabilities is nearly three times more likely to be NEET, with a rate 170% higher than average.
However, strong educational qualifications are protective: every step up the qualifications ladder halves a young person’s chance of being NEET. For those furthest from the labour market, wraparound support, including access to mentoring and career coaching, will also be essential.
Susannah Hardyman MBE, CEO of Impetus, said:
“957,000 young people neither earning nor learning is a moral and economic catastrophe, costing the UK billions in GDP and even more in lost potential. What we need now is a comprehensive Government strategy to support more of these young people into work.
For those furthest from the labour market – young people facing compounding barriers in the form of socioeconomic disadvantage, low qualifications, and special educational needs – support must be offered at the earliest opportunity, starting in school. From there, evidence shows that interventions combining targeted employment skills with holistic wraparound support can make a real difference for young people who are NEET. Positive external evaluations of Impetus partners’ Spear and Generation Uk demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.
Recent investments in the Youth Guarantee and the upcoming Milburn Review on youth inactivity are promising steps, but to solve a problem of this scale, Government must be prepared to approach the NEET challenge from all sides – from its roots in schools through to the crisis point in the labour market. This requires a thorough, joined-up strategy that aligns education and employment policy, including better data sharing between the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions, and evidence-backed interventions that target the precise barriers young people face. With £21bn lost in GDP, we simply cannot afford not to act."
Susannah Hardyman MBE, CEO, Impetus
