Huge rise in number of young people out of education, employment or training, latest data shows

More than two-fifths of ‘Neet’ young people were classed as officially unemployed from October to December 2020, says ONS

Total has almost reached 800,000, ONS says (Getty Images)

The number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) has shown its biggest quarterly increase in almost a decade, new figures reveal.

There were an estimated 797,000 young people aged 16 to 24 classed as Neet in the final quarter of 2020. This was an increase of 39,000 compared with the previous quarter, from July to September, and up by 34,000 on the figure for October to December 2019.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the latest quarterly increase was the largest since July to September 2011 and was almost entirely driven by economically inactive males.

Of all young people in the UK who were Neet in October to December 2020, an estimated 44.3 per cent were looking for, and available for, work and therefore classified as unemployed, the ONS said. Just over half were classed as economically inactive. 

The ONS added that 11.6 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK were classed as Neet in the latest three-month period, up by 0.6 per cent from July to September. 

An estimated 13.2 per cent (460,000) of males aged between 16 and 24 years were Neet, which was the highest since October to December 2013. For women, the proportion was 10 per cent (336,000).

David Freeman, the ONS’ head of labour market and households said: “After reaching a record low last quarter, the number of Neets has now seen its largest quarterly increase since its 2011 peak.

“This follows the economic impact of the most recent heavy Covid-19 restrictions, and tallies with other recent data that suggests almost three-fifths of the fall in employees since the onset of the pandemic has been among the under-25s.”

Last October, the Resolution Foundation warned that the UK was facing its highest youth unemployment crisis in four decades. 

The think tank also called the kickstart programme, Rishi Sunak’s youth job scheme, a “sticking plaster” that will fail to help with mass unemployment among young people.

Kathleen Henehan, a senior analyst at the Resolution Foundation, told The Independent at the time: “The numbers don’t stack up to the scale of the challenge. There will still be large-scale youth unemployment.”

So far the £2bn government job scheme, which was launched five months ago, has seen fewer than 2,000 young people start in their new roles.

Additional reporting by Press Association