Number of young people not in work or education hits record level in more than a decade

Industry leaders have described the figures as ‘shocking’ and ‘unjust’. Nearly one million young people are not in education, employment or training (Neet) – the highest level in more than a decade, figures show. Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimated that 987,000 people aged 16-24 were Neet between October and December 2024 - 13.4 per cent of all those in this age group.

This is up 1.3 per cent compared with October to December 2023 and up 0.3 percentage points on the previous quarter. The last time the number of young people not in education, employment or training was this high was from October to December 2013. The number of Neet young people in the time period was 1.03 million.

An estimated 14.4 per cent (542,000) of young men and 12.3 per cent (445,000) of young women were Neet from October to December 2024. Nearly 400,000 of 16-24-year-olds were unemployed - up 84,000 from the year before; And 595,000 were economically inactive.

Russell Hobby, chief executive of Teach First, said the figures were “shocking”, adding: “With young people from disadvantaged background hardest hit, today’s unjust figures should ring alarm bells across the country. “The government must increase and prioritise funding to schools serving the most disadvantaged communities to help rewrite this narrative and open the door to a brighter future for all.”.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Every young person deserves a decent start to their working life but under the Tories, more and more young people became stuck out of work or training, which comes with huge consequences for future opportunities.

“The government is now rightly prioritising change but with close to one million young people outside of employment or education the situation is stark.”. Stephen Evans, chief executive at the Learning and Work Institute, said: “Today’s worrying rise may signal further trouble ahead in the absence of economic growth, and highlights the importance of implementing a youth guarantee so all young people are offered a job, training place or apprenticeship.”.

Meanwhile, new research suggests almost a third of young people who are Neet have jobs they do not want because they are desperate for employment. The King’s Trust said its survey of 4,285 people aged between 16 and 25 found one in five is applying for jobs every day. Half of Neets said they feel hopeless about their future because they are unemployed, according to the report.