Fewer Young People Out of Work and School — But the Problem Is Getting Worse
The UK government's statistics office says 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 were "NEET" between April and June 2026. NEET stands for "not in education, employment, or training" — meaning they were not in school, not working, and not in a training programme. That number dropped by 30,000 from the previous three months, bringing it below one million for the first time since early 2026 ONS.
The quarterly improvement hides a worse picture compared to a year ago. The April-June 2026 total was 30,000 higher than the same period a year earlier, and the ONS said the increase was largely among young men. The NEET rate was 13.0%, down from 13.5% the previous quarter but higher than the 12.8% recorded in October-December 2025 and the 12.7% in July-September 2025 ONS. At 13%, the UK's NEET share is among the highest in Europe The Guardian.
The longer trend is more worrying. Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden told the Guardian that the number of NEETs rose by 248,000 between 2021 and 2024. The government, he said, is investing £2.5 billion to create nearly a million opportunities to earn or learn The Guardian.
Part of the problem is that entry-level jobs are disappearing. Research from the Work Foundation found that the number of "starter" jobs — the kind someone can get when entering work for the first time — fell by 49% over the past decade. That leaves one starter job for every three NEET young people. More than one in three employers (36%) cut the number of entry-level positions they offered to 16- to 24-year-olds in the last year alone The Guardian.
The NEET rate has moved from 12.7% in July-September 2025 to 12.8% in October-December 2025, then up to 13.5% in January-March 2026, before easing to 13.0% in the latest quarter. That pattern suggests the January-March figure was a temporary spike, not the start of a steady climb. But the year-on-year increase of 30,000, concentrated among young men, means the overall direction is still downward even with the latest quarterly improvement ONS.
The gender gap also stands out. The ONS did not split the figures by sex in its headline numbers, but the annual increase was attributed "largely" to young men. Whether this is because male-dominated entry-level jobs are shrinking, fewer young men are staying in education after age 16, or something else entirely is not clear from the data released.
The broader context here is that the quarterly dip below one million is one data point, not a turning point. The annual increase, the multi-year rise, the near-halving of starter jobs, and the UK's high position compared to other European countries all point to a labour market where the path from school into work is getting narrower. The government's £2.5 billion investment aims to create opportunities, but with 36% of employers cutting entry-level hiring, the question is whether public spending can make up for employers pulling back. The next few rounds of ONS data will start to answer that.
