More than one million young people in Britain, aged 16 to 24, are not in employment, education or training, with the proportion rising to a new high of 13.5% in the first quarter of 2026, up from 12% at the end of 2023. The UK has become one of the worst performers in Europe, with only Romania recording a higher rate in recent comparisons.
The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has acknowledged the problem, but faces a complex puzzle: a shortage of jobs would require different remedies from unfitness for work. The crisis is not uniform across the country. In London, only 12% of young people are Neets, while the North-East has the highest rate, between 15% and 21%, followed by Yorkshire and Humberside, the East Midlands, the North-West and the West Midlands.
“Over one million 16-24 year olds are NEET, with rate rising to 13.5% in Q1 2026, leaving UK second worst in Europe.”
The causes are multiple and overlapping. A growing proportion of economically inactive Neets cite health problems, including mental ill health, as a reason for being unable to work. Many have been fostered, attend special needs schools, or were raised by inexperienced young parents. Nationally, a third of young people leave school without achieving level 4 or above in Maths and English, with poor performance heavily class-biased: the lower the status, the worse the results. Middle-class families are more familiar with the phrases, habits and expectations aligned with exam success.
London’s relative success reflects cultural advantages: abundant role models and aspirational parents, often well-educated professionals or immigrants keen for their children’s future. The contrast is stark in the north’s broken, demoralised and deprived coastal and former industrial towns. In Blackpool, despite five years of renewal driven by its mayor, the town still has one of the highest rates of male suicide in the country.
A recent analysis argues that the Neet crisis requires all three remedies – addressing health, skills and regional disadvantage – but Burnham has yet to set out which specific policies he will pursue.
