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.

😂 I have come across many.

No, because we had a creative and supportive community rooted in squatting and free parties, which was subsequently annihilated by those obsessed with profit and control.

Meaning that today's young people don't have that access to a supportive community like that.

Frankly, I'm not surprised they don't want to leave the house. There's nowhere for them to go.

If they have been caught, they aren't even any good at crime.

I agree there are no dedicated spaces for young people to go. That’s one of the reasons why phone/Internet/social media use is so high.

I don't think social media has anything to do with it.

But I do think employers need to stop whinging that young people 'don't have skills' or 'education doesn't make them ready to work'. It's not education's job to train up a junior marketing executive or editor or finance assistant - if you want the skills look for potential and let them develop on the job.

I do think some young people, having grown up in an online, do-things-remotely world do need some training in work etiquette when they start. People who are, I guess 35+ just grew up immersed in it, knew you worked 9-5, went into an office. I hear people complaining that some young people are taking the piss WFH, but think about it, maybe they just need telling that in working hours, you work, unless different hours have been agreed with your manager. There's not necessarily any reason for them to know they can't just take a 90 minute exercise class or whatever and work around it without telling anyone.

I agree @SomedayIllBeSaturdayNight that more making vocational stuff compulsory would be good. Everyone would potentially learn a useful skill and also people would see this isn't an option for 'the thick kids', because actually it' not easy and not everyone is good at it.

Funnily enough, the majority of us either have had a ND diagnosis as adults or strongly suspect that we are ND nowadays.

This is what ND people used to do in the old days, before we even realised what we were. Sign on, quiet quit, launch when we were ready. We've always been here.

35% of NEETs have A-levels or equivalent, and 10.6% possess a university degree.

But yeah , sure , they could all (even those ill, disabled or with no qualifications) just walk into a job , if only they wanted to.

With respect it honestly feels like everyone considers themselves to be ND

Well, I consider myself to be ND.

But so did the clinical psychologist who diagnosed me with autism at the age of 46, so there we go 😊

And just so you know? Prefacing something inherently disrespectful with "With respect" doesn't make it any less disrespectful. I know neurotypical people think it's some kind of magic get out phrase, but it fucking isn't. With respect....

Baking bread is a skill. Tending a vegetable patch. Pet grooming. Trimming a hedge. Painting a door. Mending clothes.

Not all skills and trades need to involve hammers and hard labor.

You know your daughter best, you know what could be achievable for her.

And they can't go abroad because they can't speak a foreign language. Even pupils with French/Spanish A level cant hold a conversation in French/Spanish. When jobs for young people became scarce in Spain, many young Spaniards came to the UK to find work. The reverse won't happen.

Wow really? What chance do kids without that have??

I agree with this entirely. I've had similar conversations with mine. I think there's an expectation that it's abnormal if you're not happy 100% of the time. I've tried to explain how close the excited 'butterflies' feeling is to feeling anxious or how it can be misinterpreted. That you grow when you push yourself through these things and everyone experiences it. That's how you grow in confidence and know what you're capable of. I think them being able to get jobs as teenagers is a huge part of the story and it's so sad that so many are struggling to get anything and there's more and more barriers to teenage first jobs. Both of mine have managed to get them by word of mouth, enquiring at different companies etc rather than typical 'applications' and it's done them so much good. But it's not easy! I can't imagine coming out of uni at 21 and going for a job interview when I've never even worked behind a shop till or served someone a coffee. It must be really intimidating and have built up in their minds by that point.

🤷‍♀️ every other person on here is either ND or suspect they might be. Thats not even an exaggeration.

And?

And yes, it is a gross exaggeration.

Finding this thread bizarre. I went out for dinner earlier, young people waited on us at the restaurant, then we went to the pub, where another young person served us. The pub was an absolutely rammed with under 20s, most of them looked they’d been there for a big chunk of the day. Didn’t look very depressed or anxious to me.

What’s more surprising to me is how at some point ADHD became an all consuming, debilitating condition that somehow prevents people from working.

Partnet has ADHD (diagnosed way back in childhood), so does my brother, probably DD too but she never followed through…… they all work. I feel like the attitude towards ADHD has shifted a lot recently.

Sure, you won’t be a good fit for every job, but no one is.

And, it is nonsensical that half the population suddenly has a debilitating condition which means they’re different and exempt from the normal trajectory of life.

We are living in a global economy. Young Brits need to understand they are competing against young people from countries like India and Brazil, who have a superior work ethic.

Yes I’m fairly certain if a psychiatrist assessed me I would be ADHD. DH has been asked on more than one occasion if he’s autistic. He would definitely be diagnosed.

Neither of us have been on the dole, I’ve worked NMW jobs for a few years while finding my path but it’s no excuse to sign on and declare yourself too special and different for ‘menial’ work.

My kids are not big enough for this, but I've noticed that my 11-year old worries hugely most of the time about things that he ridiculously exaggerates in his mind so that they become life-and-death things to him. When I was his age, during holidays me and my 8-year old sister jumped into a dirty pond, trying to learn how to swim, and generally roamed freely in our small, native European town, with no phone, not even a landline! These days we keep our kids locked up under constant supervision, and it's not even that it's scary to let them out - parents are not allowed to let them out. The good things is, at least I can take my son home for 6 weeks a year where he can roam freely with his cousins on his bike, exploring villages and wild woods and when he comes home exhausted at sunset at least I see he is happy and has had a fabulous day and tells me with excitement about some half-burnt car in an abandoned barn on the side of a road. Kids really need these experiences to grow up properly (and we need to monitor them less and be less anxious ourselves).

You don’t get signed off from working for ADHD.

The government needs to restart their Kick Start scheme, 6 months of an apprenticeship open to NEETS. Great opportunity for young people to get their foot in the door of a work place that interests them.

It’s so difficult to find work for kids. Tons of applications weekly and nothing, so many people for each job.

We are talking about 13% of that age bracket that are NEETS. There are huge regional disparities too. What you see is the vast majority.

It’s like saying the high street is full so no one can possibly be living in poverty or there isn’t a CoL Crisis.

some people with adhd/autism can sometimes be overwhelmed to the point of shut down or burnout. I know so many young people who are home educated because of this, yet the state education system fails to provide an environment in which they can blossom. Other European countries manage to provide a much wider choice of education styles than the uk. It’s either grammar or state here, which are in principle quite similar.