The United Kingdom faces a growing crisis with nearly one million young people classified as «NEETs» (not in education, employment, or training). We explore the root causes of this phenomenon, from the fallout of the COVID generation to the impact of artificial intelligence on entry-level jobs and the challenges young people face in the modern job market.
Article contents:
- Sobering numbers: The NEETs crisis is worsening
- Government response and media debate
- The human side: Experiences of unemployed youth
- The COVID generation: Anxiety and a lack of trust
- Navigating a complex system and a harsh job market
- Precarious employment and the ‘last in, first out’ policy
- Systemic problems: Education and training
- The AI threat to entry-level jobs
- Future outlook: Anxiety and anger
- Frequently asked questions
Sobering numbers: The NEETs crisis is worsening
The UK Office for National Statistics published its latest quarterly estimate of the number of young people aged 16 to 24 classified as «NEETs»—those not in education, employment, or training. Despite warnings about the accuracy of figures derived from the Labour Force Survey, there was general agreement on the massive issues highlighted by the numbers, and the hundreds of thousands of young people—946,000, if the statistics are to be believed—living on the social and economic fringe of the UK.
Government response and media debate
The government announced its latest review into all of this, which will focus on the importance of disability and mental health. Furthermore, Rachel Reeves is set to make the NEETs predicament a major theme of her budget. As always, mood music is provided by sections of the media prone to a certain type of condescension and generational loathing, recently exemplified by headlines describing young people as «workshy» due to anxiety.
The human side: Experiences of unemployed youth
Behind the statistics lie real human stories. Charities working with young people speak of experiences filled with frustration. Young people who have been unemployed for a long time often slip into what official circles call «economic inactivity»—transitioning to sickness and disability benefits as poor physical or mental health begins to take over their lives—or withdrawing from the state’s reach entirely, a lifestyle now defining about 44% of NEETs.
The COVID generation: Anxiety and a lack of trust
The long shadow of COVID lockdowns cannot be ignored, nor the sense that their consequences for millions of young people amount to an unsettled generational debt. We are talking about the COVID generation. Much of it is about anxiety and trust. Things others take for granted: the way you walk into a room, eye contact—they haven’t developed these things. And that is a major barrier.
Navigating a complex system and a harsh job market
Young people face the impossibility of navigating a benefits system and a job market full of traps and dead ends. They frequently face endless rejection and feel frustrated. At the jobcentre, they feel it is like a monitoring process, so they feel pressured. They will apply for 150 or 200 jobs, to absolutely no avail.
When they do manage to deal with employers, the experience can be terrifying. People tell us that with, for example, certain parts of the banking industry, they are interviewed by an AI robot.
Precarious employment and the ‘last in, first out’ policy
Even if young people manage to secure work, they appear to face a growing chance of being let go again. Some 170,000 jobs have been lost from UK corporate payrolls since last summer, and analysis published recently suggests that nearly half of those losses hit people under 25, perhaps due to old-school thinking encapsulated by the dreaded phrase, «last in, first out».
Systemic problems: Education and training
Experts point to systemic problems. The roots of the problem often lie in schools and colleges. Our education system still operates on the premise that superior academic success is the only surefire route to a secure career and a good life. Worse still, there are no clear routes back into education for young people who drop out, largely because the further education colleges that should be at the heart of a modern economy are still feeling the effects of long years of underfunding and neglect.
The AI threat to entry-level jobs
All the while, the job market is becoming increasingly impossible. Reports indicate that AI appears to be significantly reducing corporate reliance on the kinds of entry-level jobs that have long given people a way to start their working lives.
Some firms have stopped hiring junior programmers, arguing that «there’s no reason to deal with young staff». And there is further evidence of what appears to be happening: online retail service Shopify, for instance, told managers they must now justify hiring a human by explaining why artificial intelligence cannot do the relevant job.
Future outlook: Anxiety and anger
Big Tech looks set to soon disrupt young lives twice—pulling them into platforms that erode the social skills needed for a successful career, while automating the jobs that work-ready teens and twenty-somethings once might have stepped into.
Once again, this grim prospect only highlights just how deep this crisis runs, and two of the most vital political questions of the 21st century. If our young people are anxious and depressed, could it be because there is so much to be anxious and depressed about? And if their fear and apparent withdrawal sooner or later turns to uncontrollable anger, who will be surprised?
Frequently asked questions
Q: What does the term «NEETs» mean?
A: It stands for «Not in Education, Employment, or Training», and refers to young people who are not in education, employment, or training.
Q: What are the main reasons for the rise in NEETs in the UK?
A: Reasons include the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic (anxiety and lack of trust), the difficulty of navigating the benefits system and job market, systemic problems in education and training, and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on entry-level jobs.
Q: How does artificial intelligence affect youth unemployment?
A: Artificial intelligence reduces corporate need for entry-level jobs by automating tasks traditionally performed by new hires, making it harder for young people to start their careers.
Q: What is the government doing to address this crisis?
A: The government has announced reviews focusing on mental health and disability, alongside plans for a «youth guarantee» promising access to apprenticeships, educational opportunities, or help finding a job, though some policies remain controversial.
