Burnham signals radical change in support for young people
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the government is aiming for “quite radical change” in the way young people are supported, a shift that could include tougher rules on benefits. He made the remarks in media interviews on 6 November 2026, before the release of a second report by former minister Alan Milburn on reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training, known as NEETs. The Guardian
Burnham indicated that tougher benefit rules could sit alongside more help with finding work and with mental health. He said he was prepared to take difficult decisions because he could not accept more than a million young people in their 20s on benefits. He described his mission as “rethinking childhood”, beginning in the early years.
Milburn's first report, published in May 2026, found that about one in eight young people, around 1 million, were not working or in training. The Guardian The report said young people are “different, not worse, not lazier, not less intelligent”, and noted that they have grown up in a digital world.
Other figures point to different parts of the problem. The House of Commons Library reported that 40% of young people who were NEET in April to June 2026 were unemployed. House of Commons Library Milburn's interim report found that 45% of today's 24-year-old NEETs have never had a job. The government's interim report on young people and work says nearly 60% of young people who are NEET are now economically inactive, meaning they are neither in work nor looking for it.
Milburn's second review was due to be published in November 2026. It was expected to call for ambitious efforts to help young people get jobs and training, and to recommend limiting access to some benefits for people who refuse to engage.
In an interview with the BBC, Burnham said spending on support for young people would have to rise first, which may require reprioritising existing money. He said he could not promise when the overall benefits bill would fall.
