TUC says Milburn review is "generational opportunity" to fix NEET crisis and calls for concrete action to support young people into work

• Upcoming Milburn review is "once in a generation chance" to fix NEET crisis, says TUC.
• Union body calls for concrete action to support young people into work, starting with an expanded Jobs Guarantee scheme to give young people the "leg up" they need in the jobs market.
• TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak says country is at a "fork in the road" and government must take "bold action" to secure young people's futures.

The TUC has today (Monday) said the upcoming Milburn review is a "generational opportunity" to fix the country's NEET crisis and is calling for concrete action to support young people into work.

The union body says the review, expected this month, must carve out a "bold plan" to save a generation of young people from long-term unemployment and poor-quality work.

NEET crisis

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, there were 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) in the UK for April to June 2026.

The TUC says the NEET crisis has been "years in the making" and created by a toxic mix of austerity, apprenticeship failure, exploding levels of insecure work and a stagnant economy blighted by stark regional inequalities.

The union body says the Milburn review, expected imminently, is a vital opportunity for the government to turbocharge its efforts to get young people into work.

Jobs guarantee

The TUC says the government must meet the scale of the NEET crisis by expanding the existing Jobs Guarantee scheme for young people.

Previously published analysis by the union body shows this could generate £4.6bn of long-run benefits to the Treasury, while helping hundreds of thousands more young people into work.

The government has committed to a Jobs Guarantee providing fully funded, six-month paid jobs for eligible 18 to 24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months.

The scheme is expected to support more than 90,000 young people over the next three years, which the TUC says is an important first step.

But the union body says the scale of the youth employment crisis means the government should put turbo-boosters on the scheme.

The union body is calling on ministers to:

• Extend eligibility from those who have been on Universal Credit for 18 months to those on it for six months.
• Increase the number of places available from 90,000 to 225,000 over three years.

As well as expanding the Jobs Guarantee scheme, the TUC says the government must:

• Establish a new youth learning allowance, drawing on lessons from the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). This allowance could help keep young people remain engaged in education and should form part of a wider package of support.  
• Ensure quality work. Poor-quality jobs can push young people out of the labour market, so the government must fully and swiftly implement the Employment Rights Act and the Make Work Pay agenda.
• Reform apprenticeships by improving quality, expanding provision for young people and ensuring apprentices receive enough financial support to complete their training successfully.
• Ensure young people's opportunities are a cross-government priority. The government should use its convening and spending power to deliver more opportunities for young people, targeting regions with the highest NEET rates.
• Reform education funding. The government should work with unions to make sure colleges and universities have enough staff and stable funding, and address pressures on colleges and universities delivering apprenticeships and wider learning.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

Almost one million young people stuck out of work, education and training is the devastating outcome of a decade of economic neglect.

This crisis has been years in the making but the upcoming Milburn review represents a fork in the road. Now is the time for bold action to save a generation of young people from unemployment and poor-quality work.

Our young people have been unfairly scapegoated by those offering lazy assumptions about a generation unwilling to work.

"The truth is if you really want to tackle the NEET crisis, you have to start by delivering pathways for young people into good quality jobs and apprenticeships.

The jobs guarantee is an important start but ministers need to put the rocket boosters under it by expanding places and ending the 18-month wait. Proper funding for Further Education is also vital to ensure young people get the high-quality training they need. And a new youth learning allowance would go a long way to keep young people engaged in their education.

"Good jobs need to be at the centre of this plan. No one including young people benefits from a race to the bottom on employment standards.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

- Cost benefit analysis for expanding the Jobs Guarantee: The modelling was conducted for the TUC by Landman Economics. The full methodology including approaches to estimates is available here: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-09/yw_methodology.pdf

- Policy report Young People and Work a call to action: The proposal to expand the Jobs Guarantee scheme is part of a policy report published by the TUC in September on the causes of the NEET crisis and policies across the labour market, further education and industry needed to bring down the NEET rate and to give all young people opportunities to learn and earn. The full report is here: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-09/youngpeopleandwork--calltoaction.pdf

- Data on NEETs: The most recent data, for Q2 2026, shows that there are 981,000 NEETs people aged 16 to 24 years old who are not in employment, education or training and comes from the Office for National Statistics: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/economicinactivity/bulletins/characteristicsofyoungpeoplenotineducationemploymentortrainingneetengland/previousreleases