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Can we talk about NEETs?

957 replies

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 28/05/2026 00:10

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
12
WorkingMyWay · Yesterday 18:12

MidnightMeltdown · Yesterday 13:20

Education for the sake of it is fine when that education is free, but these days it comes at en enormous cost, which many graduates will be paying for the rest of their working lives. There are less expensive ways to demonstrate commitment! As a country, I think we need to start moving away from the university system.

Employers need to invest more in training, and that will probably require some government initiative to increase incentives.

Agree with this.
employers seem very reluctant nowadays to take on and train their own staff. The days of start at the bottom, train on the job and work your way up are largely gone. And I’m sure a lot of that is due to the shift in focus to the universities, except they provide an education not a training, and employers now don’t see training as their role.

Does anyone remember the uproar over the HGV drivers after Brexit? All the haulage companies tried to get the Gov to make them a special case because we wouldn’t be able to get food and other essential deliveries if they couldn’t bring drivers in from Poland. And the Gov said tough, you’ve had 2 year’s notice to train your own drivers!

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 18:34

I have 3 adult daughters, all in full time decent jobs. It’s not been an easy ride, they have had to work extremely hard to get there. My youngest was made redundant from 2 jobs and retrained as a teacher. She has just secured a full time position and we are over the moon. None of them work from home and often have to put in extra hours. Too many youngsters use the mental health card and are very entitled. Put this against the constant barrage of activists trying to destroy British Business and the incompetence of this government and things won’t get any easier for a long time.

Owlbookend · Yesterday 18:34

GardenC00k · Yesterday 18:07

I was a teen and young person in the 80s and 90s and had no problem finding work in all sorts of ways. I have my own young people now and it’s just not comparable. It’s brutal.

Significant parts of the 80s and 90s had very significant youth unemployment. Peoples experiences of those eras differ. The young people in this documentary were not finding it easy to get a job.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DqSkoqDQo5E

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DqSkoqDQo5E

cssurvivor · Yesterday 18:40

I am sorry but your response of we just don't have enough money,, is just a matter of political priorities

For a start income tax especially at the higher bands is historically low and wealth taxes such as CGT are low ditto Corporation tax. Taxes on SME's by contrast are might higher. Unless you leave NEETS to starve you are paying tiny amounts individually, but a big chunk to keep them in misery where there is no future in sight. Why I ask are we paying childcare for couples earning £99k?

As for maintenance costs there is a simple solution that poorer students study close to home, as was often the case with the old Poly's , a lot of fellow students were local people on my course. You could as I said could provide grants to exceptionally gifted students from poorer backgrounds/ carers and care leavers.

I had a very low income, but saved for years to loan both my kids part of the student fees The eldest his third and second year, he worked through college to pay maintenance and the second, just finished his first year I am loaning around half the fees.

The student loan book is a mess, especially that it is predicted that a high percentage of students even after 40 years will not clear the loan . As it is the students are paying way more than the initial loan and the State is losing out. The only people who are winning are the banks and the debt agencies . Get rid.

Owlbookend · Yesterday 18:41

& it isnt thst times are incredibly difficult now. They are. However, it wasnt always easy for young people in the past.

GardenC00k · Yesterday 18:50

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 18:34

I have 3 adult daughters, all in full time decent jobs. It’s not been an easy ride, they have had to work extremely hard to get there. My youngest was made redundant from 2 jobs and retrained as a teacher. She has just secured a full time position and we are over the moon. None of them work from home and often have to put in extra hours. Too many youngsters use the mental health card and are very entitled. Put this against the constant barrage of activists trying to destroy British Business and the incompetence of this government and things won’t get any easier for a long time.

”Too many youngsters use the mental health card and are very entitled.”

Actually only 19% of NEETs report MH.

Oh and “mental health card” is offensive. Try supporting a young person with depression, anxiety, PTSD, EDs, self harm, suicidal idealisation or OCD.

Badbadbunny · Yesterday 19:16

Flamingosareflummoxed · Yesterday 18:01

Do we actually think interview skills/ confidence/ resilience training will help? There’s just not enough jobs, and much fewer in the future. We should be teaching survival skills and foraging, possibly combat skills.

No, we need to teach "skills" such as the building trades, mechanics, engineering, etc., where we're suffering real shortages. People are delaying/avoiding having work done on their homes because of the difficulty in finding reliable tradesmen. Engineering firms are having to recruit Worldwide to get staff to do big projects in the UK. It's now common to have to wait a couple of months to even book your car in for a service.

We need to make apprenticeships more normal again, we need to encourage small businesses and self employed to take on apprentices like they always used to but have been scared off doing over the past 20-30 years due to bureaucracy, red tape, risks of employment laws, high employment taxes, etc. As it is, it's only the biggest firms taking on apprentices, so if you live in any area with no big employers, you're stuffed, whereas in all areas, there are garages, electricians, plumbers, etc who'd take on an apprentice if it was cheaper and lower risk of being taken to tribunals/fined for getting paperwork wrong!

Even professional firms are struggling to get staff. I've talked to three other local accountancy practices over the past month and all are struggling to get staff, all say the same, the only applicants are those without the skills/experience/qualifications they've asked for, even through the industries' employment agencies. One said they advertised for a qualified/experienced tax manager, and the best applicant wasn't even qualified and had no tax experience! They all take on school leavers under the apprentice scheme, but the local college where they attend the courses is utter crap with no qualified accountancy teachers, so the trainees take longer to train up, then they've all had a lot of maternity leave with employees saying they'd come back but havn't done, leaving a void.

It's madness when we have so many people unemployed or on other benefits.

Yes, I do think skills, confidence and resilience "teaching" would work wonders as lots of small employers say the same that their school/Uni leavers really struggle with the reality of the workplace and many fall by the wayside because they can't handle fairly typical workplace issues like deadlines, talking to customers/suppliers, some can barely even talk to other staff.

Badbadbunny · Yesterday 19:22

@cssurvivor

As for maintenance costs there is a simple solution that poorer students study close to home, as was often the case with the old Poly's , a lot of fellow students were local people on my course. You could as I said could provide grants to exceptionally gifted students from poorer backgrounds/ carers and care leavers.

A huge yes to this. Back in the 80s, I could easily live at home and had two colleges and a polytechnic within easy commuting distance where I did various courses, such as O and A levels, and then accountancy courses leading to a chartered accountancy qualification, all under the "adult education" umbrella, so heavily subsidised.

Now there's nothing local at all. Our nearest college turned itself into a 16-18 only college, so nothing for adults. Another college closed down completely when the adult education budget was scrapped. The Poly converted to a university and doesn't do anything other than degree courses, so nothing like GCSEs, A levels, professional accountancy courses (nor other professions), nor diplomas, NVQs or anything like that. So basically, now local people have a choice of going to the local Uni (if they've got the entry requirements and there's a course they want) or living away at a different Uni, incurring high living costs, or stagnating on benefits as there's no other local courses they can take.

Yes, I know people will talk about online courses, but that doesn't suit a lot of people who prefer face to face, and a lot of the professional level online courses cost an absolute fortune as they're now done by training firms, not the local authority. Of course, student loans aren't available for the several thousand it would cost to do, say, chartered accountancy, through a private online tutoring firm!

GardenC00k · Yesterday 19:31

Badbadbunny · Yesterday 19:16

No, we need to teach "skills" such as the building trades, mechanics, engineering, etc., where we're suffering real shortages. People are delaying/avoiding having work done on their homes because of the difficulty in finding reliable tradesmen. Engineering firms are having to recruit Worldwide to get staff to do big projects in the UK. It's now common to have to wait a couple of months to even book your car in for a service.

We need to make apprenticeships more normal again, we need to encourage small businesses and self employed to take on apprentices like they always used to but have been scared off doing over the past 20-30 years due to bureaucracy, red tape, risks of employment laws, high employment taxes, etc. As it is, it's only the biggest firms taking on apprentices, so if you live in any area with no big employers, you're stuffed, whereas in all areas, there are garages, electricians, plumbers, etc who'd take on an apprentice if it was cheaper and lower risk of being taken to tribunals/fined for getting paperwork wrong!

Even professional firms are struggling to get staff. I've talked to three other local accountancy practices over the past month and all are struggling to get staff, all say the same, the only applicants are those without the skills/experience/qualifications they've asked for, even through the industries' employment agencies. One said they advertised for a qualified/experienced tax manager, and the best applicant wasn't even qualified and had no tax experience! They all take on school leavers under the apprentice scheme, but the local college where they attend the courses is utter crap with no qualified accountancy teachers, so the trainees take longer to train up, then they've all had a lot of maternity leave with employees saying they'd come back but havn't done, leaving a void.

It's madness when we have so many people unemployed or on other benefits.

Yes, I do think skills, confidence and resilience "teaching" would work wonders as lots of small employers say the same that their school/Uni leavers really struggle with the reality of the workplace and many fall by the wayside because they can't handle fairly typical workplace issues like deadlines, talking to customers/suppliers, some can barely even talk to other staff.

This isn’t what the report has said.
“The report laid bare the scale of the decline in the number of entry-level jobs, saying there are 1.6 million fewer low- and medium-skilled jobs in the economy than in previous decades.
The first rung of the career ladder has thinned. For too many young people, it is now simply out of reach. That places them in a hopeless catch-22 where employers ask for work experience but the opportunities for young people to gain it have narrowed or gone,” Mr Milburn said.”

My son is due to finish his engineering degree, there are no summer placements or internships to be had. His cv will be void of relevant experience and we’re starting to think his degree was a waste of time.

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 20:05

GardenC00k · Yesterday 18:50

”Too many youngsters use the mental health card and are very entitled.”

Actually only 19% of NEETs report MH.

Oh and “mental health card” is offensive. Try supporting a young person with depression, anxiety, PTSD, EDs, self harm, suicidal idealisation or OCD.

I have had to with one of my own daughters. But we didn’t give up. She kept going and persevered. You can’t spend the rest of your life cooped up. Life throws terrible things at us and you have to accept that. Everyone. You only have to look at what our parents/ grandparents went through. Benefits are not the answer.

Badbadbunny · Yesterday 20:13

GardenC00k · Yesterday 19:31

This isn’t what the report has said.
“The report laid bare the scale of the decline in the number of entry-level jobs, saying there are 1.6 million fewer low- and medium-skilled jobs in the economy than in previous decades.
The first rung of the career ladder has thinned. For too many young people, it is now simply out of reach. That places them in a hopeless catch-22 where employers ask for work experience but the opportunities for young people to gain it have narrowed or gone,” Mr Milburn said.”

My son is due to finish his engineering degree, there are no summer placements or internships to be had. His cv will be void of relevant experience and we’re starting to think his degree was a waste of time.

The numbers don't reflect all the self employed and small businesses who aren't actually recruiting/advertising, but could do if they had better encouragement/support. They'll only reflect the jobs being advertised. Huge numbers of small businesses would take on an apprentice/trainee, like they always used to do, if there was help to do so and they weren't put off by the red tape, risk and bureaucracy.

GardenC00k · Yesterday 20:13

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 20:05

I have had to with one of my own daughters. But we didn’t give up. She kept going and persevered. You can’t spend the rest of your life cooped up. Life throws terrible things at us and you have to accept that. Everyone. You only have to look at what our parents/ grandparents went through. Benefits are not the answer.

I’m presuming your daughter had the right treatment at the right time, most young people struggling with mental illness aren’t so lucky. Treatable conditions all to often are left to became hard to treat conditions. They don’t go away.

ForeverTheOptomist · Yesterday 20:15

MsAmerica · Yesterday 00:02

No. Not rude and insensitive at all. Based on the bare information that was given - only the meaning of each letter - I made the natural assumption that it aligned with the concept of a slacker.
Any of you would have been welcome to clarify by saying something like: It's a newish terms for younger people struggling with current economic problems.

Perhaps you could determine the definition of a word before you use it?

Do you know what obtuse means?

Why on earth do you think that people on MN should be your walking dictionary.

I find the Cambridge good.

MN is a community. You don't seem however to relate to this. It is apparent that you will not accept any criticism. That's your detrimental choice.

Badbadbunny · Yesterday 20:27

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 20:05

I have had to with one of my own daughters. But we didn’t give up. She kept going and persevered. You can’t spend the rest of your life cooped up. Life throws terrible things at us and you have to accept that. Everyone. You only have to look at what our parents/ grandparents went through. Benefits are not the answer.

We had to "hand hold" our DS. He'd have been happy languishing in his room playing online games, and would probably still be there now, several years later. But we virtually dragged him to University open days, had to constantly pester him to make Uni applications, had to do everything for him when moving in date loomed as he made NO attempts at preparation at all - we bought everything for him, packed his cases/bags, even unpacked and set up his room, made his bed, put his food in the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer, etc. Then pestered him endlessly to make applications for intern and summer jobs, then a year later pestered him to apply for graduate scheme jobs, and even once he left Uni and his first proper job was looming, he made no effort to find a place to live in the new city, bought nothing, prepared nothing, so it was all down to us, hassling estate agents, arranging viewing, negotiating with the landlord, then traipsing across the country in two cars taking all the stuff he needed in his new home, buying furniture for him locally, etc - he was completely in denial and simply wouldn't have bothered if we'd left it to him. He was very introverted and "couldn't deal" with other people, couldn't deal with doing things, had no self confidence, etc. We first thought he'd not survive Uni, but we pushed him through it, then we thought his first real job would be disaster, but again, we gave him immense support through the first few months.

Now, a few years later, he's a different person. VERY self confident, applied for and got a new job in London himself, no input from us. Arranged his own accommodation in London, again no help from us. Dealt with selling all his old furniture, bought new furniture in London, sorted out a small van to hire to take his smaller stuff with him, i.e. clothes, bedding, computers, kitchen utensils, and other personal effects, etc. Very confident when he's on works calls with clients and colleagues - we've heard him when he's been back home for holidays/weekends etc working from home. We've never even been down to London to see him at his new flat. He did it all himself.

Sometimes, in fact probably most times, the youngsters need some major parental "push" to overcome the fear and inertia of a relatively "easy" life bumming around at home, and then they grow in stature very quickly when out in the real World.

I saw it when I used to be involved in recruiting and training youngsters in a previous employment. So many started out barely saying a word, struggling with dealing with deadlines, colleagues, clients, etc, often turning up unwashed or in scruffy clothing, etc., but most turned into "proper adults" pretty quickly when surrounded by adults rather than surrounded by children or family. One in particular stands out in my mind as he was utterly hopeless at first - not only scruffy, but terrible BO, no social skills at all, basically just grunted when we tried to talk to him, but we all nurtured him and tried to bring him out of himself, and within a few months, he'd turn up freshly shaven and showered, smart clothes, became very chatty, and generally massive improvement in confidence.

It's why I think schools need to do more in terms of self confidence, resilience, reliability, problem solving etc., as sometimes parents can't step up to help/support their almost adult offspring and if they can't get a job, they're not going to "learn" adulthood from work colleagues.

bogstandardaf · Yesterday 20:34

Germany also has a system called 'minijobs' which make it far easier for students and unemployed young adult jobseekers to get part-time employment and improved employability.

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 20:36

Piggywaspushed · Yesterday 10:38

The Milburn Report actually did state that (im)migration isn't a factor.

The think tank findings now seem to be circulating which uses rather contested data. This is the Think Tank run by Ian Duncan Smith so have to wonder how impartial it is or why it chooses this week to nudge immigration as the factor.

We do however have a situation where thousands of newly qualified doctors have no jobs to go to because the NHS opens that pool of jobs to applicants from overseas.

For the NHS the idea of giving priority to home grown medical students would be unacceptable but to most people, it's just common sense.

ChalkOutlines · Yesterday 20:41

bogstandardaf · Yesterday 20:32

@ChalkOutlines posted about the Netherlands at 10ish this morning.
Now the Guardian has this really interesting report about how the NEET rate is one third of the UK rate:
What can the Dutch teach the UK about how to tackle the youth jobs crisis? | Young people | The Guardian

I feel like I’m battling windmills though.

However, as a parent and school staff , I feel it’s important to do so.

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 21:00

user1484264563 · Yesterday 13:33

There are many and complex reasons for this; some simply don't want to work but the many that do have been screwed over by successive governments who allow vast numbers of migrants into the UK, this to the detriment of young Brits;

"27 young non-EU migrants hired for every young Brit since 2020, analysis reveals"

www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/27-young-non-eu-migrants-hired-for-every-young-brit-since-2020-analysis-reveals

Yes, the Milburn report has just side-stepped this aspect of the rise in NEETs. Surely if several hundred thousand non-EU young people have been recruited over the last 5 years, there will be fewer young Brits being recruited (unless the economy was growing fast, which it's not). Milburn needs to address this.

cssurvivor · Yesterday 21:05

Actually my son was very ill though, at school age wasn't on any benefit. He wasn't able to attend school as on leaving the house for school he was sick multiple times this went on for years with Covid in the middle. He often had suicidal thoughts and I would worry when the only time he left the house was in the early hours of the morning to avoid meeting anyone he would try to end his life. The waiting list for the child and adolescent mental health services around here was years, so much so that it took 5 years to get diagnosed at 20 and finally get medication. He was "let go" from a part-time job at college and it took 2 years to get a job.

He didn't get disability benefits but anyone who is on them is seriously ill and deserves support, not being attacked. There is a whole other discussion around how employers treat mental health we took my son's employers to one and they settled, even though they had special employer disability status.

So people who repeat this garbage should really think again .

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 21:30

Badbadbunny · Yesterday 20:27

We had to "hand hold" our DS. He'd have been happy languishing in his room playing online games, and would probably still be there now, several years later. But we virtually dragged him to University open days, had to constantly pester him to make Uni applications, had to do everything for him when moving in date loomed as he made NO attempts at preparation at all - we bought everything for him, packed his cases/bags, even unpacked and set up his room, made his bed, put his food in the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer, etc. Then pestered him endlessly to make applications for intern and summer jobs, then a year later pestered him to apply for graduate scheme jobs, and even once he left Uni and his first proper job was looming, he made no effort to find a place to live in the new city, bought nothing, prepared nothing, so it was all down to us, hassling estate agents, arranging viewing, negotiating with the landlord, then traipsing across the country in two cars taking all the stuff he needed in his new home, buying furniture for him locally, etc - he was completely in denial and simply wouldn't have bothered if we'd left it to him. He was very introverted and "couldn't deal" with other people, couldn't deal with doing things, had no self confidence, etc. We first thought he'd not survive Uni, but we pushed him through it, then we thought his first real job would be disaster, but again, we gave him immense support through the first few months.

Now, a few years later, he's a different person. VERY self confident, applied for and got a new job in London himself, no input from us. Arranged his own accommodation in London, again no help from us. Dealt with selling all his old furniture, bought new furniture in London, sorted out a small van to hire to take his smaller stuff with him, i.e. clothes, bedding, computers, kitchen utensils, and other personal effects, etc. Very confident when he's on works calls with clients and colleagues - we've heard him when he's been back home for holidays/weekends etc working from home. We've never even been down to London to see him at his new flat. He did it all himself.

Sometimes, in fact probably most times, the youngsters need some major parental "push" to overcome the fear and inertia of a relatively "easy" life bumming around at home, and then they grow in stature very quickly when out in the real World.

I saw it when I used to be involved in recruiting and training youngsters in a previous employment. So many started out barely saying a word, struggling with dealing with deadlines, colleagues, clients, etc, often turning up unwashed or in scruffy clothing, etc., but most turned into "proper adults" pretty quickly when surrounded by adults rather than surrounded by children or family. One in particular stands out in my mind as he was utterly hopeless at first - not only scruffy, but terrible BO, no social skills at all, basically just grunted when we tried to talk to him, but we all nurtured him and tried to bring him out of himself, and within a few months, he'd turn up freshly shaven and showered, smart clothes, became very chatty, and generally massive improvement in confidence.

It's why I think schools need to do more in terms of self confidence, resilience, reliability, problem solving etc., as sometimes parents can't step up to help/support their almost adult offspring and if they can't get a job, they're not going to "learn" adulthood from work colleagues.

You have done a brilliant job and you must feel extremely proud. You didn’t give up and it must have been very hard.
Schools do try, but parents push back all the time. We have parents who don’t even get out of bed to ensure their children get breakfast. Many parents are afraid of saying no to their children and will constantly criticise the school. It’s always the schools fault, never theirs. They don’t support schools discipline and think they always know best. But the real world is not like that and they set themselves up to allow their children to fail. We have parents who stand outside reception, their kids having full blown tantrums because they don’t want to be at school - and these are teenagers. Then if they don’t like how the day is going, the student just walks home.
Often there are no boundaries or consequences.
Students will admit to me they were up gaming until 4am, they are in no fit state to even be at school. We have school counsellors, which is free and funded by the school, but then the parents make no effort to get them in for their appointment.
Teachers often get told that homework is too stressful for their child and they will not be doing it, in order to protect their mental health.
its obvious where those kids might end up in the future. It’s becoming an epidemic

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 21:32

GardenC00k · Yesterday 20:13

I’m presuming your daughter had the right treatment at the right time, most young people struggling with mental illness aren’t so lucky. Treatable conditions all to often are left to became hard to treat conditions. They don’t go away.

I wouldn’t say it was brilliant. It mostly fell on me and it was one of the worst times of my life. I had to dig deep and have faith.

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 21:51

GardenC00k · Yesterday 18:50

”Too many youngsters use the mental health card and are very entitled.”

Actually only 19% of NEETs report MH.

Oh and “mental health card” is offensive. Try supporting a young person with depression, anxiety, PTSD, EDs, self harm, suicidal idealisation or OCD.

That’s one in five…..
i didn’t even consider mental health when I was younger. Work was crap, I hated it and was thoroughly miserable, but there were no other options. I never once thought I needed to give it up to protect my mental health. And eventually it got better.

GardenC00k · Yesterday 21:53

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 21:32

I wouldn’t say it was brilliant. It mostly fell on me and it was one of the worst times of my life. I had to dig deep and have faith.

Lucky you had treatment to foster faith.The majority don’t, such young people and their parents end up having to dig even deeper.

GardenC00k · Yesterday 21:55

Vivienne1000 · Yesterday 21:51

That’s one in five…..
i didn’t even consider mental health when I was younger. Work was crap, I hated it and was thoroughly miserable, but there were no other options. I never once thought I needed to give it up to protect my mental health. And eventually it got better.

Being miserable isn’t battling mental illness.