Really interesting report on NEETs. What do you think happens next?

[SomedayIllBeSaturdayNight]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/23/uk-young-people-workplace-anxiety-alan-milburn

Such an interesting report by Alan Millburn in why the UK has so many young NEETs.

' “[Young people] are different, not worse, not lazier, not less intelligent. They have grown up in a digital world that has rewired how they communicate, form relationships and manage stress. They have fewer experiences of workplaces and they present with higher levels of anxiety and depression.”

Does this ring true to you? And what are the next few years going to look like?

I personally can't see any reason for the government not to ban social media for under 16s in this context.

Yes, like choosing whether it's too hot to have a blazer on.

Personally the issue I see is attitude, young people who seem to think that we as employers owe them a job, we’ve gone through half a dozen this school year already, say they want to work, (ok minimum wage retail but it’s a starting point!) agree to the contract -Saturdays with 4 off per year plus 12 hours to cover bank holidays (they could use these as 1 full day and one half day or 3 half days) but they are asking for time off before they have earned the leave, conveniently sick when you say no and despite the rule of no phones on the shop floor they have them in their pockets and keep getting them out, refusing to half the job … then quitting or worse just failing to show up. One person you would say, it’s just them but every young recruit has done the same, it’s not us, we work under the same rules without issue. Loads of people hiring here too, struggling to recruit currently after the latest person just didn’t turn up yesterday and on texting them announced they didn’t need the job anymore

I was one of those kids! Still not sure at 40 whether it’s trauma or ND or (more likely) a mix of both , but here I am, fairly functional, stable, fluent in several languages , with a job , home and a family , all in a country I moved to at 23 with a suitcase and not much else.I’m very aware though, it could’ve easily gone the other way. There but for the grace of God go I and all that.

Son has interviewed graduates wanting £50k pa with no real work skills despite the business degree and who seem to think that they can command that salary whilst being spoonfed the role they applied for.

Believe me, we spend a great deal of time on this, however some kids (suspected PDA) really need to hear from someone other than their parents and be in an environment other than school and home.

In European countries such as France and Germany, you can’t access benefits until you’ve paid in. In Germany at least you were essentially the responsibility of your parents until age 25 and I think I’m right in saying they paid child allowance until then if you were still in education.

Well well well.

I’m going to be honest and say PDA is a very recent diagnosis and the encouragement of ‘low demand’ parenting is going to be absolutely disastrous in 15 years.

Germany provides comprehensive support for young people, ranging from monthly cash allowances to subsidized housing, healthcare, and educational funding.
The state provides a monthly, tax-free payment of €259 per child. This is paid to parents for all children under 18 and can be extended up to age 25 if the young person is still in education, vocational training, or a voluntary service.
Low-income families can receive extra funds to cover school trips, lunches, learning materials (e.g., €230 per school year), and tutoring.

State financial support is available for students at universities and certain vocational schools. It is typically structured as half grant and half interest-free loan, with maximum monthly grants reaching over €900 to cover living costs and health insurance.
Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds starting their first university degrees can apply for a one-time allowance to help with relocation and initial costs.
Students and trainees who do not qualify for BAföG but live independently may be eligible for a state subsidy to help pay their rent.

Young people undertaking dual vocational training (Ausbildung) who have to live away from their parents can receive state financial aid to cover their living and accommodation expenses.

Well, well , well indeed. Interestingly, Germany has a lower rate of NEETS. Hmm I wonder why.

Because they have a sense of confidence and hope about their future, because they can clearly see their country is investing in their future. Unlike in the U.K.

Oh come off it if you asked your average 18 year old they wouldn’t even know what ‘investing’ meant.

France has 1.4 million NEETs. A pretty high level for Europe and more than us . Is France comparable?

I think this is two separate issues.

Yes, social media can be harmful to young people.
But I don't think that is the reason why young people are struggling to find work.
People of all ages are struggling to find work right now.

Do you not think that comment is a bit insulting? It sounds from your comments like 18 year olds - and young people, more generally - shouldn’t be supported financially. I’m sure that will make the current situation worse.

I think one of the big differences between us and France, Germany is that French & German kids have the job prospects of the whole of Europe open to them. We are trapped on an island

Or they are always barriers in the way in schools, it seems lacking in imagination compared to when I was at school in the 90's. My DC weren't allowed to do work experience more than 30 minutes away from the school so even though they would accompany one of us to work in good, interesting settings they weren't allowed as it was a commute on a train over 30 minutes away! That means they are online again. Even the charity shops wouldn't have one of my DC as cited health and safety risks!

We had the NEET problem before we left the EU.

PDA is one of those diagnoses (as a part of an autism diagnosis) that I believe has exacerbated over the last 20 years due to the changes in schools.

You don’t appear to be very knowledgeable about it or you would not claim that low demand parenting will be disastrous in the future. Au contraire pushing PDA children into the increasingly strict and restrictive education system is what is likely causing the current chaos. You’re also coming across as very dismissive of a presentation that is deeply challenging and traumatic to the child and family. It’s often said to be the most challenging presentation to deal with.

PDA was recognised in the early days of autism research, it was ignored because those translating and continuing the works of Asperger focused on the work relevant to their children.

It was a rare presentation, hardly ever seen, until it started to gain traction around 20 years ago. It’s increased to the point where now it’s very common for autistic children to present as PDA. This is no surprise to those of us who’ve been in this world for a while and have seen the dramatic changes in education over the last 20 years, although the seeds of those changes were planted well before that.

In my opinion the present school system puts children under so much pressure that they crack. I was at school 30-40 years ago and massively struggled, but the stress I was under back then is nothing compared to what my children faced in the last 20 years.

I look back at my school days and retrospectively recognise many people who would now, in school, need support and who would probably need a diagnosis to get through it all. Back then we didn’t really need to - I mean it would have helped, but largely we scraped through and managed to get our lives back on track once operating under our own steam.
Children now don’t have that option. They are forced through a hostile system that breaks them, hence the ever growing number of SN children in schools. At what point do we stop and realise that 45% SN in one school is historically unheard of, and that perhaps it’s not the children or their parents that are the problem (as we're constantly told), but the system itself.

In school one of mine was violent every single day, in meltdown every single day. I truly believe if we’d forced him through school he would now be in prison, off the rails, on drugs. Thanks to home education and low demand parenting he’s now working full time and earning a high wage for his age. He’s saving up for a house. I cannot state clearly enough that school destroyed him, and I can see schools doing the same to thousands of children, and because we are demoted to being SN mums, which is obviously a cover for us just being shit parents (sarcasm, in case you didn’t realise), no one cares, particularly those parents of the 55% typically developing children.
But at what point will you lot start to care? When SN rates become the majority? When it affects your children? Until then I fully expect people like you to blithely trot through your blessed lives looking at the more unfortunate with disdain and contempt as so many like you do every day on threads like this.

Yes it is, and yes that is a problem. We’re not obliged to aim for 2nd place in the NEET awards. We can be ambitious and aim for the Netherlands. Why not?

Correction: a quarter have ^identified, acknowledged, and recorded, long-term conditions.

DD3 had a crisis in year 9. She is now diagnosed with OCD, ASD, ADHD, and PTSD. Only the PTSD is new. All the other things were there and seen from preschool age but because she is academically very able, very driven, and needs to be 'ok', she kept going until she collapsed.

If you'd looked at her in year 8 you would have recorded her as 'no SEN' because all of the needs she displayed at that point were seen as slightly highly strung brainbox.

But you don’t want to do what the Netherlands have done to get there. So how will that work?

Both my dc are in this age bracket, although luckily not NEET. Several of their friends are though. Jobs are hard to get. Ds has got an internship this summer (he’s at uni) and he applied for about 30 jobs to get it. Loads of AI and auto shit to go through, massive amount of time consumed. Miserable really. My friend’s ds did 4 years at uni and couldn’t get a job any of the summers or after uni. So once he graduates, he’ll be NEET.

Germany, the Netherlands and (especially) France have far, far fewer allowances and SEN provision in schools. France still has not moved on from the "refrigerator mothers" school of thought on autism. Germany and the Netherlands both fairly brutally stream children into vocational/non-vocational education from quite a young age. If you want their level of NEETs, would you want their school system?

In the Netherlands, if you've not paid in, welfare is around 75% of minimum wage. And their criteria for being too unwell/impaired to work is far stricter than in the UK.

I don't think schools are the problem that some people make them out to be. Nor do I think schools should be responsible for solving all of society's ills.

What did that friend study @Plsudb?
if you want to say

It’s so tough for young people, I’m annoyed That’s awesome it’s really good. I’m annoyed the blame is more on them than older adult politicians causing it.

Whoops ignore the awesome bit