The Centre for Young Lives’ strongly welcomes the focus of the Milburn Review. We echo Alan Milburn’s comments that if “we’re not investing in young people, we’re not investing in our country’s future.” Too often young people have been an afterthought in policy making, with interventions to support them seen as a “nice to have” rather than essential to our economic success and social cohesion. The Milburn Review is a welcome opportunity to identify the many overlapping drivers of the trend of rising NEET young people, including mental health and lack of support. The Centre for Young Lives has been calling for a cross-departmental strategy for vulnerable young people, backed by investment of the scale provided in the early 2000s to break down siloes and put children and young people at the heart of policy making. 

The problem

The proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) has risen sharply in recent years, signalling a pressing social and economic challenge. The most recent figures show 946,00 young people aged 16–24 – around one in eight – are NEET, compared with one in ten before the pandemic.^[1] This increase is unfolding against a backdrop of significant challenges facing children and young people, including: a youth mental health crisis affecting one in five children and ^[2]young people, impact of deep cuts to youth services; an education system that is not adequately preparing our young people to enter the workforce; ^[3]rapid integration of AI displacing entry-level jobs, and the long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.^[4]

Most NEET young people are economically inactive rather than unemployed – making them ineligible for unemployment benefits and unknown to many support services. Long-term health problems are now the most common reason for economic inactivity, above caring responsibilities, temporary sickness, or not looking for work because of the belief that there are no jobs available. 

This shift is particularly evident among 18–24-year-olds, many of whom have never held paid employment, reflecting a deepening detachment from the labour market. The profile of NEETs points to several, often overlapping drivers, emphasising the need for effective support that goes far beyond conventional job-seeking interventions.

Spending time NEET can reduce life chances and have a detrimental impact on their physical and mental health. It can also increase the likelihood of becoming involved in the criminal justice system.^[5]  These are harms which have wide reaching economic and personal costs

The solution 

To reverse these trends of rising numbers of young people who are NEET, there needs to be a shift from late, crisis-driven responses to earlier, joined-up, and community-based support. This needs to be supported by a cross-government strategy aligning education, employment, health, and youth policy, alongside the expansion of locally delivered Young Futures Hubs that provide open-access mental health support, careers guidance, mentoring, and youth provision in one place. Together, early identification of risk factors for NEET and coordinated local provision would make the biggest difference in preventing young people from becoming NEET, and supporting young people already NEET back into education, employment or training. 

Below we set out an overview of our recommendations. Our detailed policy recommendations are set out in full after each section in part 2. 

1. Stronger cross-government coordination around young people: Government departments should stop working in silos and align strategy, funding, and delivery around shared ambition to improve youth outcomes and reduce the number of NEET young people as a result. 

• A cross-departmental Young Futures Plan bringing together DWP, DfE, DHSC and DCMS to align policy and funding behind Young Futures Hubs and related programmes.
• Joint guidance from co-signatory departments to define a shared core offer delivered through Young Futures Hubs.
• DWP–DHSC partnerships to jointly fund and deliver mental health and employment support for young people who are NEET.
• A cross-government working group to coordinate long-term outcomes tracking and understand NEET risk across the life course.

2. Integrated local support models: Young people should be able to access multiple types of support in one place, in their community, particularly through coordinated local hubs.

• Young Futures Hubs delivering a centrally mandated core offer plus open-access enrichment activities throughout the week.
• Strong partnerships between DWP Youth Hubs and Best Start Family Hubs to connect young parents with childcare and employment support.
• Mental health provision embedded into hubs, including links with Early Support Hubs and Mental Health Support Teams.
• Use of hubs as delivery points for Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for young people with mental health needs.

3. Targeted support for groups disproportionately likely to become NEET: Support and specific pathways should be implemented to provide targeted support to groups of young people that may be facing additional barriers to entering education, employment or training. 

• A requirement for specialist support for girls and young women within the Young Futures Hub core offer.
• DWP research focused specifically on young female NEETs to understand gendered drivers.
• Targeted outreach and employment support designed to engage young women who are NEET.
• Joint DWP–DHSC specialist mental health support for young women to address mental-health-related barriers to participation.

• Formal partnerships between DWP Youth Hubs and Best Start Family Hubs to provide joined-up childcare and employment pathways.
• Piloting dedicated support staff in Employment or Family Hubs to work specifically with young parents and links with child-friendly employers, such as supporting young parents into childcare sector jobs.

5. Earlier identification and prevention through education: Stronger join up across services is crucial to earlier identification of the risk factors of NEET to deliver early and preventative support from early childhood. 

• Ensuring children who do not reach a Good Level of Development at age 5 are referred to Best Start Family Hubs for early support.
• The upcoming SEND White Paper strengthening early identification and intervention in mainstream schools.
• DWP–DfE partnership to identify and support young people at risk of becoming NEET before they disengage.

6. A more inclusive education system: School exclusion, unmet needs, and non-inclusive practices are key pathways into later NEET status. A more inclusive education system would ensure children are kept in school for longer, and every child is supported to overcome barriers to achieve their potential and thriving throughout their life. 

• A proposed Green Paper on whole-system school reform with inclusion at the centre, including accountability reform.
• Expanding the Pupil Attendance dashboard to monitor school rolls and detect off-rolling or non-inclusive admissions.
• Mandatory CPD for teachers on inclusive, relational and trauma-informed practice and identifying additional needs.
• Statutory guidance on Managed Moves to ensure fair and supportive transitions rather than informal exclusion.

7. Stronger links between education and employment: Young people need to access to vital support at key transition points in their childhood, such as leaving school. Transition support should be joined up with community and local partners to ensure that young people already disengaged with the education system have pathways to support. 

• A DfE–DWP partnerships programme to expand work experience and employer engagement.
• Youth support workers linked to attendance teams to re-engage persistently absent pupils with education and work pathways.
• Broader employment outreach through community, education, and voluntary sector partners, not just Jobcentres.

8. Poor mental health: We welcome this review’s recognition of the role of poor mental health in rising rates of young NEETs. Government must deliver a joined-up, cross-departmental approach to mental health and unemployment to address both issues and break the link between them.

• A joint DWP–DHSC funding pot for targeted mental health support for young people who are NEET.

• Expansion of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) through early support hubs.
• Targeted outreach from Early Support Hubs and Mental Health Support Teams to young people at risk of disengagement.
• Strengthening the mental health offer within Youth and Young Futures Hubs.

The concerning trend of the rising number of young people who are NEET is a warning sign of deeper system failure, with young people slipping through the gaps across systems where support is lacking. Heightened risk of becoming disengaged from education and work can be identified as early as age 5, with disadvantage baked in early in life. Rising rates of poor mental health without sufficient support to meet demand, unmet SEND needs, record levels of school absence, poverty, and weak transition support all exacerbate these risks for too many children.

Support is fragmented, reactive, and unflexible, meaning many young people, particularly those who are economically inactive or ‘hidden NEETs’, receive little or no help. Our submission argues for a fundamental shift toward earlier identification of risk factors and early intervention, stronger integrated, community-based provision – particularly around transition points and targeted support to disproportionately impacted groups of children and young people. This should be supported by cross-government coordination and strong partnerships between government, employers and business and wider local partners, to prevent more young people from becoming disconnected and to ensure they are supported to thrive into adulthood.

[.download]click here to see the full submission[.download]

References

1.  Office for National Statistics. Young people not in education, employment or training.
2.  NHS England. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023 - wave 4 follow up to the 2017 survey. https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up
3.  Financial Times. The graduate ‘jobpocalypse’: Where have all the entry-level jobs gone? https://www.ft.com/content/62e7cf87-1ebe-41fd-9d15-dd0a75ad4d86
4. Education Policy Institute. Examining post-pandemic absences in England. https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/examining-post-pandemic-absences-in-england-5/
5. Public Health England (2014) Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training.