Today, the Centre for Young Lives and Catch22 are publishing a new briefing, Opening up opportunity for the ‘lost generation’: the role of Young Futures in boosting youth employment, setting out how Young Futures Hubs can help tackle the growing crisis of young people who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET).

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More than 1 million young people are NEET. Alan Milburn’s recent Young People and Work report identified a “crisis of opportunity” for young people, and called for ambitious reform to change the way the system works. 

Published today, this briefing sets out how Young Futures Hubs can play a central role in bringing together national policy and local provision into a system which identifies need earlier, removes barriers to opportunity, and offers a ‘single front-door’ to a joined-up local system for young people.

Young Futures hubs have three core aims: to improve young people’s mental health, reduce their involvement or risk of involvement in violence and crime, and increase access to opportunities, including employment.

The paper highlights how the Young Futures programme can help to:

• Build a coherent local network of support; 
• Help young people build skills, confidence and resilience; 
• Break the link between mental health and being NEET; 
• Tackle the risk factors of low attainment and school absence; 
• Provide work experience and practical employment support; 
• Strengthen connections with Department for Work and Pensions services.

The paper’s recommendations aim to ensure Young Futures Hubs provide early intervention, sustained engagement, and effective routes into education, employment and training, especially for those most at risk of being NEET.

Key recommendations:

• Young Futures Hubs should include mental health support and clinical pathways into further help
• Young Futures Hubs should establish formal partnerships with schools and Alternative Provision settings to reduce NEETs
• Careers advisers in Young Futures Hubs should be qualified professionals, working with schools to identify young people at risk of becoming NEET early
• Young Futures Hubs should offer high-quality work experience, employer-led projects, and part-time opportunities such as Saturday or holiday jobs
• the Department for Culture, Media and Support should publish a comprehensive, joint guidance document for Young Futures Hubs along with departments across government to encourage local join up
• The government should expand Young Futures Hubs into every community through a cross-departmental Spending Review 2027 settlement

Supported by the Hadley Trust, this paper is part of a series of briefings setting out good practice in support for young people through the Young Futures programme. It builds on previous publications by the Centre for Young Lives, a Framework for Young Futures, and a briefing on the role of mental health support in Young Futures.

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