Can we talk about NEETs?

[MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack]

Sorry if there's a thread already and I've missed it. But I want to talk about NEETs.

Apparently, we are potentially going to have 1.25million young people not in employment, education or training by the early 2030s. This is quite an alarming number, and it feels like we're failing an entire generation - both the NEETs themselves, who don't seem to have very much going on in their lives that might give them a sense of satisfaction or achievement, but also their working peers who will presumably end up having to support them via the tax system.

I really don't want this to be a thread with lots of judgement or criticism of these young people - it seems to me that we must have failed them somehow as a society. I also want to steer clear of party politics if we can. But I really want to understand why we have so many young people in this position right now.

Does anyone have a child in this situation who would be willing to share why they find themselves in this position? What are the barriers to them studying or getting at least a part time job? Are they happy with how things are right now? Are they trying to change their situation? What do they actually do all day? Are they surrounded by friends who are in the same position? What do they do about money? And what do you feel about the whole situation as a parent?

If anyone is willing to share, I really hope we can avoid a pile-on in which the young people and/or their parents are subjected to a character assassination. I would like an honest and frank exchange of views and experiences because I do genuinely want to understand the root causes of this issue, but if it descends into blame and fingerpointing, then the whole conversation will get derailed.

For full disclosure, I do have a dc in the middle of the 16-24 age group, but neither she nor any of her friends fall into this category.

Being on the school rugby team is not going to get you a job.

Unfortunately young people are applying to less attractive jobs in their thousands and not finding work.

I totally agree with many of these points. Particularly, with the overdiagnosis of ND conditions.

My cousin is 24 and will be on PIP for the entirety of her life, due to the condition she has been diagnosed with. She was diagnosed in primary school. She says she cannot get a job because her condition means she cannot pick up the phone to speak to anyone, she cannot do this or do that because of her condition. I had the same level of shyness when I first started my first job, but I was brought up to want and need to work for many reasons such as paying the bills, living independently and the routine and purpose. Unfortunately she wont ever leave home, because her parents have taught her to hide behind her ND.

My nephew is now 20 and has been diagnosed with a similar ND condition and for the past couple of years has been using the same excuses as to why he cannot get a job. His parent will not push him either and has not taught him the value of work. I think it will be a good few years before he moves out, if at all. His younger brother (11) is currently going through the autism diagnosis too. Their parent has said the youngest child (4) is autistic too, so im sure he will also go through that too.

I also have another family member that has self diagnosed themselves at the age of nearly 60 as autistic.

All these family members are unrelated.

I seem to know a lot of people through work and various other methods who's primary school kids have or are going through an autism diagnosis. These diagnosis seem to be signed off by the school and no or little doctor engagement.

As well as another family member that is 5 years old that was been diagnosed as autistic too at the age of 4.

So many of these have been diagnosed far too young when children are still developing. And we are setting them up to fail.

Yep I have two teenage siblings like this.

Go to bed every night at 6am, rising the next day in the middle of the evening. Playing games all night and no motivation to do anything. Spend all of their time online locked in their bedroom and eating takeaway. They have zero social skills because they’ve never socialised with anyone. With the way they’re going I doubt they’ll ever get a job. Soon my Mum will have two unemployed adults living with her and I imagine that will continue until she dies.

My sister has some undiagnosed inflammatory disease which means she apparently has to be driven everywhere but she never leaves the house so of course her body hurts. She’s been rotting since Covid times. They’re all over weight.

You can’t criticise them though as them both have diagnosis of autism (as do I) so my Mum says it’s not their fault and they’re too socially anxious to do anything else. They’ve never tried and my Mum just excuses everything. It’s like she’s set them up to fail. I’m quite a bit older and I had a completely different upbringing to them. I simply wouldn’t have been allowed to do that. I do think they’d be very different if they’d been brought up the way I was.

Autism and ADHD are under diagnosed in this country.

Pretty sure it's kids with undiagnosed mental health issues, adhd/autism etc

Like, my nephew always needed a little support in school. And he actually did quite well. He got 9 gcses at c level and one was even a b, so clearly not bad.
Obviously that was with hisparents supporting him and managing his time etc.
But then he went to A levels,couldn't cope, level 3 btecs couldn't cope,
He couldn't hold anything down, no job not the easiest apprenticeship, nothing.

Then he suffered from mental health issues, and finally was diagnosed with depression and both autism and Adhd at the age of 23.
Now, if he had access to an apprenticeship that was at his level, I think everything that happened subsequently could've been avoided.
Now he's fully disabled and probably will never work.
And yet he was okish at 18.

It's just that the world of work isn't kind, you need to show a level of initiative, commitment, leadership and motivation that is perhaps beyond the capability of some young adults with audhd if they don't get the right support.

Even a simple job of stacking shelves, my nephew would've needed a little guidance and training tbh
But when taught he was perfectly capable of following orders and rules, instead he was let go again and again, unfortunately noone has the time to hand hold an adult.

Someone has already pointed out that the vast majority of YPs, NEET or otherwise, have no SEN or SEN diagnosis. Many probably do have anxiety or depression - but that may well have been caused by their situation. Those who are ND undoubtedly face bigger hurdles than most.

How this thread has already descended into ND bashing and disablism and/or whataboutery , I do not know. But I am not surprised.

Schools do not diagnose autism ffs. Not even GPs can do it! They have to refer the children and then it is up to a a multidisciplinary team of autism specialists, most commonly led by clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, or specialist paediatricians.

I managed it. I am disabled.
Sorry but perhaps I am not the right person to have that discussion with.

I have 3 children who are now 17, 20 and 23. They all work. My daughter who is 17 is at sixth form and has a part time job as a lifeguard. My eldest went to uni and now works full time. His first job was a part time job in a chip shop he is now an asbestos surveyor on a good salary. My middle child is just about to complete his apprenticeship and qualify as a mechanic, his first job was a paper round. The reason they have been able to achieve these things starts with going to toddler groups, includes scouts, drama club, church choir. They have all had good support from parents, grandparents but also other adults in their lives such as scout leaders etc. Too many children dont get this support then families wonder why they lack the skills needed to gain employment. The old saying, 'it takes a village to raise a child, is true. As a country we need to take a long hard look at the care system that is failing many kids but parents also need to take a look at what they are doing. It starts young. Families where no-one works and sets an example also need to take a long hard look at themselves. My kids have been priviledged in many ways - mainly the relationships they have had with trusted adults in their lives. Parents need to put their children first. This doesnt mean financially it also means setting a good example by working hard themselves.

Then you’ll know disability varies hugely

People dont get disabilliy benefits just for hsving a diagnois they get them becsuse of how that diagnosis impacts them
If thry are being diagnosed at a young age thars because it must be impacting them negativly.

Pushing ND people into situations that cause distress can lead to serious mental illness. It’s not about hiding behind ND but living with a disability.

The key is to support such people and help them
find suitable work with reasonable adjustments that enable them to manage their condition and work.

No idea why this has turned into the inevitable MN ND bashing, most NEETs are not ND.

When successive incompetent and corrupt governments destroy the economy, the young pay the price first.

Get this joke of a Labour Party gone. Bring in supply side reforms and get building going as well as reduced regulation. Cut welfare and deep, make it easier and cheaper for the private sector to grow. Economic growth to fix the problem.

What these clowns in government are doing is just making things worse.

14 years of Tories lead to this.

I didnt read the bit where you thought schools could sign off an autism diagnosis😂😂
Clearly you hsvent a clue what you are talking about.

The damage austerity, mismanaged COVID and Brexit has done to the NEET population is frankly appalling and anybody serving in the Tory government the previous 14 years should hang their heads in shame.

Niece didn't want to go to uni - she did two year Btec did well -looked for full time job - had been doing zero hours contract during two year at college. She had a wide family network though her Dad who tried to get her a full time job - she applied to loads - best she got was another zero hours contract so went back to college for another year - now has a uni place in Septemeber. She'll incure a huge debt but hope a degree with get her more options.

DD1 about to graduate - been looking entire year and got nothing yet.

None of our manage to get summer of p/t job - older two both did volunteering instead. Most of their mates who found jobs had parets who drove so could get past the locations not having public transport to them and shit hours - and most got them through fmaily contacts who they knew.

One of DD2 mates on a welsh gov scheme aimed at neets - her friend didn't want to study longer - they can leave school here in wales at 16 still - but couldn't fine work so 18 months of placements. She got the experince and refernces and is coming to end of time they'll let her stay on scheme - she also has a rare sat job on top but hasn't found any opening yet.

So they've all technically avoided being neets so far but not so sure they are further along.

I know🤣

There are nowhere near enough jobs to go round.

DS2 applied for dozens of part time jobs last year, aged 17. He got one interview, which the interviewer forgot about 4 times, and then when it eventually took place the guy never got back to him with the outcome.

DS1 is 20 and has been disabled since birth. He went to a special school, is on maximum PIP, and I can’t see him ever coming off benefits. However he attends a day centre and a disability training scheme and if he can do bits of work or volunteer in the future then he will. The last thing we want is for him to sit in his room doing nothing. However he was assessed for LCWRA a few months ago and interestingly both the assessor and someone on MN who claimed to be an assessor, both jumped to the conclusion that he’s had a normal mainstream life, is now “a bit anxious” and just chooses not to work. We got the decision overturned. It was interesting though that these assumptions were made.

Amongst my friends who have NEETs, there's a similar pattern:

• School refusal, threats of self-harm if parent forces them to go to school.
• School drop-out.
• Autism diagnosis.
• Apply for benefits.

It's very difficult to manage, because parents are terrified of their teens going through with threats of self-harm.

I was VERY lucky as my DC were self-harming and school refusing at a time when I was working with some young people in mental health services. I learnt from those services to reduce risk (hid knives and medicines) and force/impose structure every single day so they stayed in education. It nearly killed both of us and I can totally see why parents are too scared to make them attend school.

My fear of them failing to launch was bigger than my fear of them harming themselves. I think we really need to target people at the school refusal point.

I do know that. But to have a negative approach to the ability to become employed is dooming an individual from the start.
Thank god I never took such a view.

Unless your disability is a cognitive disability , then you can have this conversation. You just don’t want to.

There is around 10,000 graduate jobs and around a million people graduating this year. Entry level jobs have been down year on year and have dropped by about a third. It is incredibly competitive to even get a job in a local supermarket now.

NEETs also are not including the numbers of people who are working maybe one or two shifts a week as that’s all they can currently find. There is a huge amount of people in this country who are under employed and have no where to progress or move to start earning more money. The job market is absolutely terrible and salaries have not improved since 2008.

I feel incredibly sorry for young people. I am 32 and the only option drilled into me by school was university. Nearly every job all of sudden wanted you to have a degree even entry level roles. My first job after university was an admin assistant in an office which made it mandatory to have a degree upon starting I found out that very few people in the office had degrees as when they had started 10/15 years ago it was not needed.

I don’t blame young people for this at all. This has been coming for years and is only going to get worse every year with AI.