ONS: Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: August 2026 + Reactions

Estimates of young people (aged 16 to 24 years) who are not in education, employment or training, by age and sex. These are official statistics.

• Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: August 2026

  Estimates of young people (aged 16 to 24 years) who are not in education, employment or training, by age and sex. These are official statistics.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said:

"We are determined to turn the tide on the youth unemployment crisis, which has been years in the making with the number of young people not in education, employment or training rising by 248,000 between 2021 and 2024.

These latest figures underline why we are addressing youth inactivity as a priority.

The Jobs Guarantee is already supporting those most in need with the first young people to be supported by the scheme now in work, and our wider £2.5 billion investment will help create almost a million opportunities to earn or learn. Further reform will follow the Milburn Review, which will report shortly. 

Background:

• There were an estimated 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK who were NEET in April to June 2026. This is down 30k on the quarter. 13.0% of young people were NEET - down 0.5%pts on the quarter
• The first young people in the areas with the highest levels of youth unemployment have started working thanks to our Jobs Guarantee: Government's Jobs Guarantee turns promise into paycheques for young people - GOV.UK
• Our £2.5 billion investment will support almost one million young people and unlock up to 500,000 jobs and training opportunities.
• Businesses are being supported to hire young apprentices with up to £8000 of funding, depending on eligibility criteria.
• From October, Sainsbury's is launching a programme to create around 10,000 work experience and skills opportunities over the next year, aimed at young people who might otherwise struggle to access employer networks and career opportunities: 10,000 work experience opportunities for young people as Sainsbury's joins national drive to tackle
• This follows the Prime Minister announcing a fundamental change to the education system last month, with the launch of new prestigious technical educational routes. The new pathways will provide 14-year-olds with valuable early access to technical skills, work experience and connections with local employers: PM: From today Britain will value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap' - GOV.UK

Conservative Party

Helen Whately MP, Shadow Work and Pensions, said:

Something has gone badly wrong for a generation of young people. The opportunities that previous generations took for granted are not there in the way they once were.

Labour have destroyed job opportunities for young people with their Jobs Tax and employment red tape. That has put the brakes on businesses hiring young people, giving us the highest youth unemployment in over a decade and nearly a million young people out of education, employment, or training.

The Conservatives will back businesses to create jobs with tax cuts, boost apprenticeships, and reform welfare so young people are better off in work and we can get Britain working again.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• There are nearly a million people aged 16-24 not in education, employment, or training, and over 60,000 more since the election. There were 919,899 people aged 16-24 not in education, employment, or training in the period ending June 2024. There were 980,690 people aged 16-24 not in education, employment, or training in the period ending June 2026. There are 60,792 more people aged 16-24 not in education, employment, or training since the election (ONS, Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), 27 August 2026, link).

• Unemployment has increased by nearly 290,000 people or 0.7 per cent under Labour.The unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and over was estimated at 4.9 per cent in April to June 2026, which is up from 4.2 per cent at the time of the General Election. Additionally, the November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook raised the forecast unemployment rate for each year from 2026 through 2029 (ONS, Labour Market Statistics, 21 July 2026, link).

Labour's choices have increased unemployment:

• Despite pledging to not increase taxes on working people', Labour have hiked taxes by £60 billion, pushing the tax burden to a record high. The Labour Party Manifesto for the 2024 General Election said: Labour will not increase taxes on working people'. However, Labour's first two Budgets have increased taxes by £36 billion and £26 billion respectively, pushing the tax burden to a historic high of 38.3 per cent of GDP (The Labour Party, Change, 13 June 2024, link; OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, 26 November 2025, link).

• Rachel Reeves introduced a Jobs Tax a tax hike that will cost employers £900 per employee each year. The IFS has warned that Labour's Jobs Tax that will increase the cost of employment by £900 for the average worker (IFS, Autumn Budget 2024, 31 October 2024, link).

Only the Conservatives have a plan to make work pay:

• We will break Labour's doom loop with our Golden Economic Rule and plan to save £47 billion.Under our Golden Economic Rule, for every pound saved, at least half will go to cutting the deficit, with the remainder being used to get our economy moving.

We will cut tax backing business and making work pay. At Conservative Party Conference, we announced our plan to:

• Abolish Stamp Duty on primary residences, helping more families achieve the dream of home ownership. Under our plan, Stamp Duty Land Tax, which is paid when you buy a property or land in England and Northern Ireland, will be abolished for primary resideces.

• Abolish Business Rates for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure businesses, benefitting 250,000 businesses and reviving our high streets. We would introduce permanent 100 per cent business rates relief for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure businesses benefitting 250,000 businesses (HMT, Press Release, 13 November 2024, link).

• Introduce a £5,000 First Jobs Bonus, backing the next generation. Under our plan, the first £5,000 of National Insurance paid by any British citizen starting their first job will be placed into a personal savings account earmarked for a first home deposit or future savings.

• We will repeal every job-destroying, anti-business, anti-growth measure in the Employment Rights Bill. This is because we recognise Britain cannot prosper with a state that smothers ambition, and a labour market designed solely for union bosses, rather than for the millions of people who want to work, hire, build, and grow (The Standard, 24 November 2025, link).

 Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Just under a million young people are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) [1].  

The inadequacy in welfare means young people are cutting back on food, skipping meals, and going without essentials to keep up with everyday costs. The basic rate of Universal Credit (UC) is just £78 per week for single people under 25.  

The crisis of young people not earning or learning is a symptom of economic failures that are placing greater pressure on public services, including our social security system. Our evidence shows that tackling the root causes is both effective and popular with the public [2].  

The Starmer government set out a proposal to make under 22s ineligible for the health element of universal credit. This government should reject cuts to benefits and focus on the support that will help people sustainably move into work and/or learning.    

Sam Tims, lead analyst at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:  

Nearly a million young people not earning or learning is the result of an economy that leaves young people behind, creates too few opportunities, and particularly fails those growing up in poverty. It speaks to a lack of support for young people to move forward with their lives.  

Not only does growing up in persistent poverty more than triple the risk of being out of work or learning, inadequate income also prevents people from being able to move back into learning or earning. 

The Milburn review must be a turning point for the support offered to young people, with Government not repeating past mistakes, like cutting incomes and imposing ever more punitive sanctions that failed to improve outcomes. 

Notes to editors 

1. There were an estimated 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK who were NEET in April to June 2026; this number increased by 30,000 when compared with April to June 2025 but was down by 30,000 on January to March 2026. (ONS) 

1. https://www.jrf.org.uk/social-security/tackle-economic-failures-at-root-to-ease-pressure-on-universal-credit 

1. At the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we work to speed up and support the transition to a future free from poverty, in which people and planet can flourish.