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.

There is one on the government website

My husband has a small business and tries to recruit regularly for trainee maintenance engineers on pump stations offering just over minimum wage whilst training and then salaries £35-40K after 12 months, which is competitive for our area. No experience required but they do need a clean license. The only people who ever seem to apply are older men working hospitality/retail who want a career change which surprises me as it’s a pretty much recession-proof job and no risk of being taken by AI. It is however physically demanding and all outdoor work which is what I assume puts younger people off.

My 19yo is currently searching for a part time job before starting his second year of college in September....he is applying for several jobs and getting no interviews! He has a friend who has referred him to his place of work (call centre work). DS is willing to do agricultural work too. Currently searching every possible avenue. He has car insurance to pay for and needs money. He knows we don't have much ourselves to help him. So he genuinely does want some hours to work each week.

Got rejected from McDonald's last week. Not even an interview! He also applied for a manufacturing post at a factory but was told he needs experience to do the work. How will he get that experience without being offered a chance?

I genuinely feel sorry for these young people. Getting a job when I was 18 years ago was very easy and I was a full time student then too like DS.

This is really sad and a massive failure of parenting.

Could you help them understand the value of volunteering? Lots of examples on this thread that might help them see the role it can play in bridging the experience gap

No one relished the low paying jobs when they were plentiful. The Mumsnet parents turned their noses up at low paid work, dismissing it as a stopgap for their DC to save money for getting pissed abroad ahem travelling and then a glitzy career with the big 4.

Also, the non Mumsnet children are probably earning a hell of a lot more than minimum wage dropping things off on delimited e motorcycles. Something needs to be done about that too, not sure what.

When the economy struggles the amount of NEETs increase, it’s not a new thing

www.statista.com/statistics/282058/number-of-people-who-are-neet-uk/?srsltid=AfmBOoq_WC9Wsy-T3Lqn9JbqxyMuFfupAkXjELsgYgfbwsYjdXIED4Ui

I think this is both a really important point but also understandable from the young person - depending on how long they’ve been out of work.

Why wouldn’t you spend a while (if you could afford it while living at home) shooting your shot at what you really want? If it went on for a longer period of time, though, you need to change course and your advice for that is v good

people have commented that there children were "lucky" - fine but the harder you work the luckier you get. The employment rate hasnt really changed much since covid https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/employmentintheuk/may2026

For the NEETS I know parental expectations have played a big part. Encourage your young person to think their autism or anxiety prevents them from working and it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Find them volunteering opportunities, possibly even outdoors, to keep them from spending all their time on screens and tell them being idle is not an option and they get work experience, references and sometimes hear of opportunities that are not advertised or are interviewed by people who already know what they can do.

It's more difficult for some young people than others but I also know young people with problems, including official autism diagnoses, who are in work.

Incentives from the government to take on young people would help but employers will only go for that if those that turn up dont have attitude problems and unrealistic entitlement. Schools have as much to do with that as parents - lots of teaching about human rights but virtually nothing on responsibilities.

Why does something need to be done about that? Those delivery roles can be done by anyone who wants to

My ds works in retail and one thing that stands out to me is the lack of full time jobs - his contracts with various different stores have all been part time. There must be an advantage to the business in employing more part time people rather than fewer full time.

It's a worrying situation.

People say "get an apprenticeship and earn while you learn" without realising how competitive they are. Also I've observed they usually go to a family member or acquaintance of the employer.

I'd probably steer my ds to a degree with a year in industry and hope he made an impression to get a job offer, and if not at least there's some experience to talk about at interview.

I guess DD2, 18, fits into this category now and it’s heartbreaking. She has clinical depression, has attempted suicide, been hospitalised for several months and had half a dozen different medications, none of which work long term. Sometimes there is a tiny bit of hope that she’s getting better but it never lasts. I wish people understood depression better, it isn’t something that you can just snap out of by going for a walk or whatever.

I have absolutely not given up hope that she’ll have a good life one day but I don’t know when that will be. People always blame social media and phones but DD was never into any of that before becoming depressed.

My 19 year old has applied for dozens of apprenticeships without success. He is working in a retail position for now and is hoping to get some work experience related to the type of career he wants to do.
We have a strong work ethic in our family, both my children have had part time jobs since the age of 15, through my place of work
I've given my son an enormous amount of help with has CV, job applications etc. We've explored all contacts we have through our own jobs and other friends & aquaintences, and this is hopefully how he will obtain some work experience.
Basically it takes a LOT of perseverance and help from family too. You keep encouraging and don't allow them to do nothing.
At home my children are expected to help with household tasks, look after and walk the dog and help their grandparents with jobs too.

Exactly. Lots of people are struggling to find work, and it’s often not anything to do with them, but external factors in the current climate.

I read several months ago someone suggesting military service / conscription for 2 years and I am wondering if it might not be a bad idea for this unemployed aged group. It might teach them life skills and some may like it and even make careers.

You can't spend your life idling away sitting at home and looking at your phone or sleeping while supported by the tax payer.

I've always thought that some form of community service / eco therapy would be a good alternative to welfare. Probably excellent for all these modern conditions (ADHD, ASD, PTSD, KFC, etc).

It's hardly surprising to me. When my cohort graduated in 2009/10 it was hard to find professional roles but minimum wage was low and it was easy to find a job in cafe or bar. Loads of people did that for a bit. People could afford to go to these places so that industry was booming. It was also possible to live quite comfortably in a flat share earning less than the full time minimum wage of the time of £12k. So you could live on a part time minimum wage job and pay rent. I knew loads of people who did that whilst pursuing creative endeavours. There wasn't the need to stay with parents etc...

Sorry by “delivery” I meant delivering drugs. Not proper delivery drivers, nothing wrong with that at all.

I have a small business. The tax system rewards me buying technology and equipment but penalises me for employing people. Tech is tax deductible, doesn’t require holiday pay/cover, parental leave, sick pay/cover, NI/pension, h&s, workplace risk assessments etc. If I employ a human I pay the salary plus taxes, pension contributions and so on.

So if we are serious about employment as a country, this needs to be reversed. Human employment as tax reducing boon, tech with additional tax costs and penalties.

My DS 18 is NEET. He is autistic. He has no qualifications, not a single GCSE. He leaves the house less than once a month and spends most of his time in his room. He’s not depressed, which is an improvement on last year, I’m hoping with time he may be able to engage in getting at least maths and English qualifications

Previously, businesses could take on apprentices without cost to the business. Now every apprentice is at full NMW, day one rights, paid while at college etc.

The impact that has had is that less apprenticeships are offered and those that are offered are more selective. Because while things may have changed for the right reasons, and while apprentices can be worth their weight in gold in time, you have a long period where you’re paying to train them in absolutely everything and they’re therefore costing you twice - in their wage and in losing another person to their training. A lot of businesses just can’t afford this.

I have an under employed relative who works a few hours a week in retail and has just stopped his second college course due to MH issues. Parents very active but not sure how to help having assisted with courses in the first place. Hard to know what to do.

Apparently farmers used to do that.

A lot of farms have accommodation (old static caravans) as they employee those from overseas.

Why go to the effort of putting on minibuses for either SAHMs (my aunt used to get on the bus with her mum) or teenagers to get on it when you’ve got strapping young men wanting the work who will literally pick like their families life depends on it.

Disappearing retail positions because of online shopping and AI gobbling up starter jobs feels like a huge factor. My DD17 had to complete work experience last year as part of her vocational college course. She secured some but it wasn't easy because lots of places she approached that would normally have space available said it was taken up by post-grad uni students desperate for any kind of work. These were unpaid, voluntary positions though – I can't imagine what it must be like leaving uni after three years of studying and racking up debt and then not being able to get paid work.

I'm hoping DD will avoid becoming a NEET because she's studying for a career in a sector where apprenticeships are still widely available. She'll probably have to move to a different part of the country though (we're in London), and her dad and I are expecting we'll have to financially support her until she secures one because even getting a Saturday job is like finding the Holy Grail at the minute.

This sounds like such a great opportunity it’s a real shame younger people don’t tend to apply. How does he advertise for the roles? Is it worth targeting local schools and colleges setting out the recruitment process and expected career path and explaining he’s trying to encourage a more diverse workforce to see if that makes a difference?

A few people are mentioning graduates but they are slighlty under represented in the relevant neet age group of 22-24 and the proportion of graduates who are Neet has apparently been static for decades. They might not be getting graduates level jobs but they do seem to be getting a job on the whole.

The biggest group in the 22-24 age are those with low or no qualifications.

My son was nearly NEET because the local colleges have cut back there level 2 offering for those who miss the gcse entry grades for lrvel 3 (A Level) Some have also cut back the vocational courses available. My town's college actually has no vocational offering now. He was going to have to travel on 2 trains and a twenty minute walk, to do level 2 in a practical course (carpentry) He has SEN and this is a genuine challenge for him and a genuine cost for us. He luckily was able to get the 4 gcses needed to go to a college one train ride away, but its still a cost compared to all the other children in this town who can walk to the local sixth form.

I work in a local school and since the college cut back its level 2 offering, neets are rising as those kids cant practically get to the others. The transport links arent really hard for people wanting to do hairdressing for instance. Then we had a number of years of people having to pass maths/english to be awarded thier apprentiship or progress on with a practical course they did well in (although thats just been eased)

Im shocked at the crapness of the further education offer in what is a wealthy well connected area. FE is also underfunded compared to A levels when classes need to be smaller and have more materials.