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The number of young people in the UK not working or in education has risen closer to a million, figures show, as a government adviser warned that society’s expectation of each generation doing better than the next was “now being broken”.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people aged 16 to 24 who were not in education, employment or training (Neet) rose to 957,000 in the final three months of last year, equating to 12.8% of this age group.
The figure was up from 946,000 in July to September. The number of young women classed as Neet rose by 13,000 while the number of young men fell by 2,000. In total, 510,000 young men and 448,000 young women were classed as Neets.
There are increasing concerns that young people in the UK are faring badly in the jobs market, with unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds above the EU average. The data shows that the number of young people who are inactive – meaning they are not looking for a job and are also not in education or training – fell by 34,000 in the quarter but remained high at 547,000.
The former health secretary Alan Milburn is chairing a government review into the causes of youth unemployment and inactivity and is due to report this summer.
Speaking to Times Radio before the latest Neet figures were released, he said there was a growing fear in society that young people now had worse prospects than their predecessors in terms of employment and home ownership, while also dealing with issues around the prevalence of social media and artificial intelligence.
“There’s a broader fear that parents and grandparents have, that their kids … are not going to do as well as we’ve done. That’s the first time that’s really happened in a century,” Milburn said. “I think people feel that the social contract that we’ve had in society – that each generation would do better than the next – is now being broken.”
The ONS said the increase in the Neet figure was due to rising unemployment rather than economic inactivity, with the number of 16- to 24-year-olds looking for a job rising to 411,000. This was up 45,000 from July to September 2025 and up 19,000 from October to December 2024.
A number of economists and business groups have said the rise in youth unemployment – which is at an 11-year-high – has been partly caused by the government’s decision to increase the rate of employers’ national insurance contributions and its attempt to equalise minimum wages between young and older workers.
The Resolution Foundation thinktank has called on the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to use her spring forecast next week to announce a pause in the equalisation of national minimum wage rates. It also called for Reeves to raise the upper age limit for offering a guaranteed paid work placement to those out of work for 18 months from 21 to 24 years of age.
“Acting sooner rather than later can help prevent these worrying trends becoming an entrenched crisis,” said Louise Murphy, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation.
There are fears that the rise of artificial intelligence is having an impact on many entry-level jobs for graduates.
Christine Lagarde, the president of European Central Bank, said on Thursday that AI had so far boosted productivity in the eurozone but not led to “the waves of redundancies that are feared”, although she said the ECB was closely monitoring this.
However, two businesses cited the growth of technology as a reason for significant UK job cuts announced on Thursday.
The retail technology business Ocado said it was planning to cut about 1,000 jobs as it reduces costs and uses AI systems to become more efficient. At the same time, the UK advertising group WPP announced a radical restructure to counter the threat posed by the growth of artificial intelligence, including plans to sell assets and job cuts.
