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.

I was hoping you were not going to mention charities. When I had cancer and at other times of my life I have volunteered to do IT for charities. It's never led to anything useful for me.

The Charity industry is really an industry now with high level careerists and expoitation of volunteers. At least in the 3 geographical areas I have volunteered in.

My niece already has a CV and been in work. An extra entry for charity volunteering wouldn't be an asset sadly and it would stop her from being able to concentrate on re-skilling and applying for jobs.

I will get her to look on the council website though. Thanks for your kind reply.

In IT I think AI isn't the main threat right now. It's jobs being outsourced abroad. Been like that for years. Big companies getting contracts but their actual workers aren't in the UK or even Europe.

Good grief that’s madness!

For the love of God can we have one thread without trans issues dragged into it!! Only 1% of 16-24 year olds are trans. This is not a trans issue!

We had a kid under the table with a blanket. Their parent suffered a psychotic breakdown and the things they suffered and witnessed in the weeks before she was sectioned(for months, it was that bad) had an (understandably) massive impact plus the added worry about their parent, being separated from them etc.

Volunteering is hit and miss. Ds took a volunteer role and, having proved himself, was hired (for pay!!) shortly afterwards. I have volunteered for many years myself and some roles are thankless, some managers forget that you are not a slave, and some roles are enjoyable and provide good experience.

It doesn't mean not claiming benefits? I mean obviously sickness benefits maybe..but it's more just that they're under 25 isn't it? Some would be on JSA or UC or whatever? Isn't that one of the issues?

Half of NEETS are not claiming benefits.

I'm sorry to hear you had a negative experience. Volunteering won't help everyone, but I have been privileged to experience lots of positive stories too. Good luck to your niece, persistence will pay off eventually!

There’s definitely a ‘British mindset’ contributing to all this. Ireland’s NEETs are nowhere near as numerous as ours. I would be interested to hear from Irish posters who have spent time in the UK as to their opinion.

What I find interesting is that everyone has understanding and sympathy for the (fully grown) teachers who are depressed, anxious, traumatised and leaving the profession due to behaviours in the classroom. However, there is none of that for the kids that are in those classrooms and are also victims of the same behaviours. Nope, those kids are all weak , little snowflakes who need more resilience. How does that work?

Nearly half (around 44% to 50%) of all 16 to 24-year-olds classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) in the UK do not claim out-of-work state benefits. This represents a "hidden" cohort of roughly 314,000 to nearly half a million young people who are completely off the radar of standard Jobcentre employment support.

I'm an older NEET, simply unemployed older Millennial, and face age discrimination. I'm either underqualified for roles, or people don't have the imagination or aren't sold on the amount of transferable skills I have because I didn't have that exact job title in the past, or I suspect I'm seen as overqualified. The local jobs centre staff confirmed that they know people like me who've struggled to get work for that reason. I've interviewed for jobs that I should have walked into given how well the interview went and my experience, but didn't get them, and they were only very short term temporary positions.

My experience is that is that with private companies, where salaries are negotiable, they want young people, as they can pay them less without fearing that the employee is going to be resentful about it or worried about supporting dependents. Companies still want experience though, ideally, but they also want quite young people where they feel like they have the upper hand over and exploit. So ideally, the 24-28 years old age group.

On the other hand, I wonder about the population of Gen Z out there who are difficult to work with. Even as more of an introvert myself, seems to be a strong anti-social, almost misanthropic culture amongst them. Being friendly, warm, making conversation or small talk is seen as a bit cringe, something to look down upon or dread. That won't help them get their first job.

@GardenC00k my inclusion of the trans issue was pertinent to what is going on in education. Anxious young girls being told they may be born in the wrong body etc when they just need support to navigate growing up. It has been rife over the past ten years alongside a spike in ADHD and Autism diagnosis. If we keep labelling every discomfort in life we are not arming young people for the workplace. Thanks for the post. I will take my 35 plus years of experience in education and ensure no additional information is added based on my experience.

By the looks of it, it’s mainly because their policies massively align to those in other countries with low level of NEETs.

I think the report basically says this cannot continue. And something needs to change.
We cannot afford it not to change. Other countries do not seem to have these issues. We could learn from them what they might do differently. From education to parenting to finding work.

The kids are the ones making the teacher depressed not vice versa

Apologies for AI but it’s interesting re Ireland. Looks like we could learn a lot and be even more depressed about Brexit. Look what they get from the EU!

Being part of the EU has significantly helped Ireland’s NEET (Neither in Employment nor in Education or Training) numbers, allowing the country to achieve one of the lowest NEET rates in Europe. Ireland regularly outperforms the broader EU average and sits comfortably below the European Pillar of Social Rights' target of 9%.
Multiple EU-level initiatives and structural benefits have driven this success:
The Reinforced Youth Guarantee: This flagship EU-wide program ensures that all young people under 25 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship, or a traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+): The EU provides critical financial backing to Ireland for national employment programs, vocational training, and targeted inclusion initiatives aimed at disadvantaged youth.
Mobility and the European Single Market: Young Irish workers have barrier-free access to live, study, and work across the entire EU bloc, which relieves domestic labor market pressures.

And

Ireland consistently maintains lower rates of youth not in employment, education, or training (NEETs) compared to many other European nations. This is driven by strong educational participation, close ties between schooling and industry, and robust state-sponsored apprenticeship systems.
Ireland’s lower NEET rates are driven by a combination of economic and cultural factors:
Heavy Emphasis on Further Education: Culturally, Ireland places a strong premium on higher education, resulting in a large percentage of young people transitioning straight from secondary school into universities, technological institutes, or post-leaving certificate (PLC) courses.
State-Supported Apprenticeships: The Irish government heavily incentivizes and funds the SOLASapprenticeship system. This provides clear, viable "earn while you learn" pathways in sectors like construction, electrical, finance, and engineering.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Ireland’s status as an international tech, biopharma, and financial hub has created a robust domestic job market. Multinational corporations regularly recruit fresh graduates, keeping overall youth labor absorption high.
High Emigration Rates: Historically and in recent years, when domestic opportunities are scarce or cost-of-living pressures hit hard, many young Irish workers choose to emigrate (e.g., to the UK, Australia, or Canada) for work, which artificially lowers the domestic youth unemployment and NEET tallies.

Indeed - and the only trans young person I know has an exceptionally good job & fabulous life in a European capital city. Let's keep focus on the actual issues, which include:

-the lack of entry level roles as a result of AI;
-the extreme difficulty in securing an apprenticeship to learn a trade; and
-the explosion in recruitment and screening tools that means working at a local supermarket has more application stages than I needed for my graduate job 30 years ago.

It is increasingly difficult to break into the world of work and maybe we should be seeking to solve this as much as berating the young people struggling.

Yes. Volunteering can backfire on people.

You'd think that if you're a good volunteer that has an established relationship with an organisation, that you'd be in first stop to be hired, especially if you also have the skills or experience they need....right?

In real life, it doesn't quite work like that. Getting good, reliable volunteers who are willing to regularly provide free labour might be quite difficult for some organisations. Therefore, it may sometimes be more advantageous for them to keep you where you are rather than employing you and then be missing a good volunteer. It works exactly like that in corporate workplaces whereby some employees aren't promoted because they are far too useful in a job role that might be deemed difficult or undesirable.

That’s really interesting and overlooked salient points, thank you.

No they are getting a lot from the EU and their job market is better than ours thanks to Brexit.Brexit has made the job market in Ireland significantly more attractive and stable than the UK's, primarily by driving major multinational corporations and financial institutions to relocate or expand their European headquarters to Dublin. This shift has created an imbalance in economic opportunity, favored by Ireland's status as a gateway to the EU single market

But hey let’s all keep supporting Reform!

Ok cool thanks. So I was right in that the term NEET doesn't mean definitely not claiming?

Lots of potential reasons.

Covid at a critical point in life meant many 'withdrew' from social situations and found they liked that better. Anxiety, Autism.

Social media fuels what you should be and that's unatainable for many. The world is a scary place if you have anxiety

What ? All of them? Not one good, decent kid left in classrooms?

Covid happened all over the world. Other countries have not got the issues we have.