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.

Spending has doubled since 2015 and that’s not even taking into account the fact council tax is basically now a social care tax. 25p in every £1 of council tax is spent on SEND. It is absolutely not ‘cut to the bone’, the demand has just risen to such an astronomical level we can’t keep up no matter how much we spend.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/feb/05/send-costs-bankrupt-english-local-authorities

They can earn it like anyone else. It isn’t benefits or nothing?

Maybe Youth training schemes, YTS, as a few decades ago when this was also a big problem? The government pays companies to take on and train young people, this may cost less than benefits, at end of YTS some trainees would certainly get kept on, others at least have skills, training, perhaps a qualification? Remove AI from the application process. Focus on the generation of young adults who had no protections from smart phones at school, no protection from social media, messed up teenage years with Covid and lockdowns.

I think if you're going to use the stick, you need a carrot too. I would put money into supporting young people to find work, increasing the number of apprenticeships, widening the access to work scheme etc.
I do still think that some young people will need benefits though, at least for a time. Once you end up on the streets it is virtually impossible to get yourself out again.

I think for young people with disabilities there are no opportunities unless the government steps in and offers incentives or specific workplaces. There are plenty of government work things could be allocated to those with learning disabilities/ asd where they could be given time to do the job. There are plenty problem now is that work places for even the menial jobs - supermarkets, warehouse are high pressures and time pressures making them unsustainable

I.dont think banning things is the solution and I can't see how it would work anyway

I do think parents need to make sure they are actively parenting- making sure their children do some decent hobbies that build resilience, ensuring they still do things with their children, managing phone use, finding opportunities to build their skills

My son has just started volunteering in a charity shop. I pay him some money to reflect the time he works there. He's building workplace skills and getting to meet people from all walks of life

Air Cadets has also been brilliant - pushing him appropriately, teaching him to be well presented, developing leadership and team work skills.

He uses his phone to watch all kinds of interesting videos and documentaries about topics he is interested in. He plays chess online on his phone. He stays in touch with family who live far away. Used sensibly they can add value.

705,000 jobs available (lowest since 2021). Number of unemployed 1,810,000. Even if every one of those jobs were taken, there would still be 1.15 million people without a job.

Who is going to employ the person who can't cope with social interaction, or can't answer the phone, or can't multi-task, or can't add up, or can't spell, or can't make eye contact, or can't cope with a busy environment?

My youngest is 17 next week and finding it much harder to find weekend work than even her eldest sibling did (he’s 11 years older), let alone me. It isn’t that she isn’t looking as she wants to start driving lessons.

Maybe they are exactly the same people who would have in previous generations - maybe marry young and be sahm, be manual workers, work in factories and agriculture, nursery workers, mechanics, painters & learn trades (and practical literacy and numeracy skills that were comparable to the non negotiable GCSE 4, but they could never replicate on paper), work in shops, cleaning, care, driving, be state enlisted nursing staff (and possibly go on over time to become SRNs, as there wasn't the A level and degree barrier to overcome first)?

If that's the case, then maybe it's unfair to say that they have to attain more when previous generations didn't have those additional school based barriers preventing them from doing so?

MN glitch - duplicate post

I have one disabled young person who cannot work and is in education but the other two have had part time work throughout university and sixth form and straight into jobs after graduation. There are loads of jobs and they have done bar work, restaurant work, and care work. There are jobs if you are able

I would encourage your young people to look at care work - if they drive particularly families looking for personal assistants love young people applying for the job. They can relate much better to the young people needing care and the life skills your young people will gain is huge

Not if they’re ill or have no qualifications, have been out of school.

3 years, what an insult.

A lot of mums and dads want to work from home.
This reduces so many starter office jobs.
But they want their children to get starter office jobs.
Children see their parents working from home so how is that going to help them accept that leaving the house is essential when you are young? Explaining that it’s great once you have established friends, partner, children, a decent paying job that enables you to do that is vital.

But then you hit the same wall, there are fewer starter jobs in admin/office reception, errands jobs, because more people work from home.

We are all part of this problem.

The working world is becoming a much more remote place.

The police were advertising for recruits.

I have always thought it would be great if every child had to learn at least 1 relevant skill/trade for 2 years as one of their GCSE's or equivalent.
Something they can fall back on if further education doesn't happen for whatever reason.

What jobs are there for non-academic kids these days? Young people who, for one reason or another, don’t do well in exams, and leave school without A levels or even GCSEs? Young people with leaning differences, or neurodivergence (not recognised or diagnosed at the time) used to get apprenticeships or work in factories / big public services etc. But these jobs are either gone, cut to the bone, or still occupied by older workers who can’t asked to retire these days!

Hmmm.

In my late teens and early twenties in the 1990s, I was on the dole, as were all my mates. We were as feckless as they come. Used to spend all our time going to raves or sitting around getting stoned. I'd say the only difference nowadays is all the hand wringing about NEETS.

Those mates nowadays are: university lecturers, DJs (the paid sort!), running charities, earning an actual living as artists, working in environmental organisations etc etc. I'd say most of us turned out alright.

Were you too socially anxious to leave the house or make a phone call?

But look at the requirements for a 'skill/trade'. Just taking carpentry as an example:

• Mathematics - no point trying to make a dovetail joint if you can't understand angles. That window frame is going to be tricky if you can't remember that it needs to be 1500mm long not 1050mm long.
• Timekeeping - nobody will appreciate you turning up late
• Organisation skills - you need your own tools, well maintained, ready to go
• Speed - who cares if you can measure 1500mm beautifully, if it takes you 30 minutes to do it.
• Stamina - up and down ladders, from one end of the site to the other, doing tasks over and over again
• Accuracy - see above
• Manual dexterity - measure, cut, assemble. Hammer, nails, ladder, screwdriver, scribe, etc.
• Safety awareness
• Strength - materials are heavy
• Awareness of teamworking
• Communication skills - understand your brief, work to it
• Understanding of hierarchy - who is the boss, who is your boss, etc.

The list goes on. Now, tell me again, who is going to employ my DD1 who has limited sense of safety, poor fine motor skills, poor processing skills, speech and language disorder, ASD, etc....who??

Presumably crime would rocket.

It’s interesting you write that children should enjoy their childhoods and not be put under so much stress, but that they should also be taught to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’.

I agree with the first part of your post, and think the second part - about them feeling the fear and doing it anyway - could be helpful, but it might also cause them a lot of stress and anxiety. I think there are healthier, less anxiety-inducing ways to help them build resilience and manage their response to risk and things they’re scared of. I also think all of this depends on the child, as each child is - of course - different.

Are you saying you made choices? There are lots of young people who don't have those choices to make. DD2 for example. No course for next year, because no college will meet her needs. One college said they could meet her needs if the LA rewrote her EHCP so she doesn't need what she needs. I'm serious. The supported internship lead came to her special school (not LD, SEMH) and said 'Right...should be good...you don't have any gaps in education do you?' Umm...well her school is for kids who have missed education due to SEMH. So, yes, she's missed almost all of year 10, 1/3 of year 11 (and was part time for the 2/3 she did do) and has been part time through years 12 and 13. 'Oh, well in that case, no, I'm not offering supported internship.'

We're not handwringing - there is literally nothing for her. Nothing at all. Yet @FernFaery thinks that if you stop her having access for money she'll....well what? Will she suddenly be able to cope? Will she reverse her ASD and her expressive language disorder??

Surely if they can’t work then they also cannot commit crime..?

You'd be surprised! I know more than one person with a criminal record who would be totally incapable of paid work.