Alan Milburn report details causes and scale of UK Neet crisis

The Story

The first part of Alan Milburn’s report on young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) in the UK was released on May 28, 2026. It finds that about 1 million young people, roughly one in eight, are Neet, with the UK’s rate in 2025 worse than all EU countries except Romania. The report identifies structural factors including inequality, health issues, the social security system, and a difficult labour market as drivers of the problem.

Key Facts

• Approximately 1 million young people across the UK are Neet, about one in eight.
• The UK’s Neet rate in 2025 was worse than every EU country except Romania; a decade ago it was near the EU average.
• Six in 10 young people who are Neet have never had a single job, compared with four in 10 in 2005.
• The cumulative economic cost of Neet status is estimated at £125bn.
• In Barnet, north London, 1% of 16- and 17-year-olds are Neet; in Dudley, West Midlands, the figure is 21.5%.
• Of the 10 English local authorities with the highest proportion of Neet young people, eight are in the north or Midlands.
• Young people who are Neet are now more likely to be economically inactive (53%) than unemployed (47%), with health-based inactivity due to anxiety, depression or neurodevelopmental conditions increasing.
• About seven in 10 young people who claim a health and disability benefit are still doing so a decade later.
• The report estimates that for every £25 the Department for Work and Pensions spends on benefits for young people, it spends just £1 on helping them back into work.
• Of those who first claim a health or disability benefit aged 16 to 24, almost half are still out of work or education a decade later.
• Milburn rejects myths about laziness or poor mental health as excuses, stating the overwhelming majority of Neets want to find work, education or training.

Conflicting Reports

No conflicting reports identified across sources.

Still Unclear

• The full list of policy recommendations from the report has not been detailed in the sources.
• No data is provided on how the UK government plans to respond to the report.

Misconceptions

The report directly addresses and rejects the idea that young people are lazy or unsuited to work, calling such views “sometimes cruel” myths. Milburn states: “Young people are different from those who came before them. Not worse. Not lazier. Not less intelligent.”

Key Figures

• Alan Milburn, author of the Neet report.

Sources

• The Guardian — ‘A record of failure’: what’s in the first part of Alan Milburn’s Neet report?
• The Guardian — ‘A record of failure’: what’s in the first part of Alan Milburn’s Neet report?