Committee publication · Report · 22 July 2026 · HC 180
Large Print - 3rd Report - Youth employment, education and training
Summary
The Work and Pensions Committee's report examines the UK's rising crisis of youth unemployment and inactivity, with 1.01 million young people (13.5% of 16–24-year-olds) not in employment, education, or training (NEET) as of early 2026. The committee finds that while the government has launched positive initiatives including a Youth Guarantee and apprenticeship reforms, these efforts are insufficient in scope and scale. The report identifies systemic failures across government departments, misaligned tax and benefit policies, and inadequate support services as root causes, calling for a comprehensive cross-government youth employment strategy with clear targets.
Key findings
- 1.01 million young people are NEET (13.5% of 16–24-year-olds), up from 673,000 in 2021; uniquely among OECD countries, this rise is driven by both unemployment and economic inactivity rather than unemployment alone.
- Economic trends explain roughly half the rise; broader health trends—particularly mental health deterioration (described as an 'epidemic')—account for much of the remainder; 70% increase in NEETs with work-limiting health conditions over the past decade.
- Half of the UK's NEET figures are attributable to persistent childhood poverty and family adversity; child poverty is identified as the 'single most modifiable' factor for reducing NEET rates.
- Government policies lack coherence: the health system prioritizes clinical activity over employment outcomes; employer National Insurance increases disproportionately affect youth recruitment; benefit rules penalize apprenticeships and young carers' education.
- The Youth Guarantee's scope is limited (covers only those within the benefit system, missing 44% of NEETs not claiming benefits); apprenticeship system suffers from excessive complexity and poor vocational esteem; policy changes require long-term commitment to avoid repeating 'here-today-gone-tomorrow' youth programs.
Recommendations
- Government should respond to recommendations from the Milburn review within two months of its reporting.
- Bring forward a cross-departmental youth employment strategy with ambitious targets for increasing youth employment, education, and training participation, and reducing inequalities in youth unemployment across groups and areas.
- HM Treasury should extend the National Insurance Upper Secondary Threshold so that all employees under 25 attract no employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions until they earn more than £967 per week; Treasury should provide modelling of long-term costs and benefits.
- DWP should undertake a comprehensive review of benefit rules and how they interact with 16–18-year-old participation in employment, education, and training pathways (implementing recommendations from the Social Security Advisory Committee).
- DWP should remove the 21-hour rule that prevents young adult carers from combining Carer's Allowance with full-time study, and ensure young carers are explicitly eligible for the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund.
- Reconsider the proposal to delay access to the Universal Credit health element until age 22, based on evidence of developmental and mental health risks during this critical period.
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Pat McFadden, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Alan Milburn, former Secretary of State for Health, leading independent review into youth inactivity, Debbie Abrahams, Chair of Work and Pensions Committee, Barry Fletcher, CEO, Youth Futures Foundation, David Taylor-Robinson, Professor of Public Health, University of Liverpool, Social Security Advisory Committee, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Treasury
Notable line
“It is a travesty that over one million young people in the UK are not in employment, education or training”
Key Quotes
“It is a travesty that over one million young people in the UK are not in employment, education or training (NEET). The government is right to prioritise this issue and it has taken some positive first steps. However, the policy interventions offered to date do not go far enough.”
“There is a lack of coherence across departments, with policies not aligning with the ambition to increase employment, education and training for under 25s.”
“… the rise in NEETs was due to "a whole system failure." He plans to publish …”
“… ill health as "the new kid on the block", telling us that over the last 10 years there had been a 70% increase in the number of NEETs with a work-limiting health condition.”
“… often, the mental health system tries just to get a young person better, whereas the employment system tries to get them into work, but as long as they do not have the same incentive, it will not work.”
“… the UK government simultaneously declares all post-16 pathways equivalent—while its benefits system financially penalises some families whose children choose vocational routes. This is not a minor administrative inconsistency.”
“Over the last 30 years, we have not really had an ambition for what our NEET rate should be. … Until you set that, it is really hard to work back and say what action you should take… You need 35 Department for Work and Pensions …”
“Young people have been let down multiple times and by multiple systems. Single-department policies and one-off programmes will not be sufficient.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗