What does Neet stand for and why does the UK have so many?

The number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training - a group known as Neets - has risen above one million, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says.

The figures were released as an independent review warned of "a lost generation" of young people, unless urgent action is taken to support them.

A young person is considered Neet if they are not in education, employment or training.

To be considered Neet, a person must be aged 16 to 24 and:

• unemployed - looking for work
• economically inactive - not actively looking for work and not waiting to start a job, or caring for family
• not in formal education, such as school or university, or on a vocational course
• not participating in any training schemes, such as apprenticeships or internships

More than one million young people aged 16-24 were Neet between January and March 2026, the ONS says.

The last time the number topped one million was July to September 2011, after the 2008 financial crisis.

The latest figures account for 13.5% of all young people in the UK - one percentage point higher than in the same period in 2025.

There were more Neets classed as not looking or available for work than there were hunting for jobs.

The number of economically inactive young people was 613,000. This group includes 316,000 women and 297,000 men.

The ONS estimates that 400,000 16- to 24-year-olds were unemployed and looking for work. There were more unemployed young men than young women - 257,000 compared with 143,000.

An estimated one in 10 young people who are Neet are graduates. However, those who have not achieved GCSE-level qualification are more likely to remain Neet for longer periods, according to the Youth Futures Foundation, an organisation which aims to ensure young people can find work.

It said those living in poverty, or with special educational needs, are also more likely to be Neet.

The ONS releases figures on the number of Neets in the UK every three months.

It produces its estimates from its Labour Force Survey. Fewer people have responded to the survey in recent years, which makes the results more volatile than in the past. The number of Neets tends to fluctuate throughout the year.

A major independent review of the reasons so many young people are not in education, work or training was released by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn in May. He was asked to look into the issue by the government.

Milburn challenged the idea that young people were not trying, or were "work-shy, snowflakes, soft".

A survey carried out for his interim report suggested that 84% of Neet young people do want a job or training.

He said rejections for young jobseekers, after submitting dozens, sometimes hundreds of applications, had become the norm.

"The problem is that for too many young people, opportunities are not growing, they're shrinking," Milburn said.

The report said there is not one factor causing the crisis, with the current jobs market, spending on education and the Covid pandemic some of the reasons highlighted.

It said the number of entry-level jobs has fallen by about 1.6 million over the past 20 years. Vacancies in hospitality, for example, have halved in the last four years alone. Apprenticeships and graduate jobs have also been affected.

Health issues are also a factor. The proportion of people who say they are Neet because of a work-limiting health condition has increased by 70% over the past decade, according to the Health Foundation charity.

The number of those citing a mental health condition has almost doubled to more than four in 10, according to the Youth Futures Foundation.

Milburn described the situation for young people with disabilities as "devastating". In 2024-2025, 29.6% of disabled young people were Neet, compared with 8.7% of their non-disabled peers, his report said.

He described the situation as the "perfect storm" for young people, warning that becoming detached from the labour market can have a "scarring impact", with the lifetime loss approaching £300,000 for each young person.

"If you have not had a job by the time you are 24, you are probably not going to have a job by the time you are 34," he said. "It just gets worse and worse."

The cumulative cost of almost one million Neet young people to the UK economy has been estimated to be £125bn per year, the review said.

The second part of Milburn's report, containing recommendations, will be unveiled later in 2026.

But he has already said he wants to help more young people to get into work through minimising the risks to employers, and maximising the incentives.

He has highlighted that for every £25 the government spends on youth benefits, it is spending only £1 on schemes to get young people back into work.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden welcomed Milburn's report and said the government was already taking action.

He said it was: "Bringing forward the biggest youth employment reforms in a generation including a Youth Jobs Grant for businesses starting next month, more apprenticeships and subsidised employment to help young people."

In her Budget speech in November 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves promised £820m over three years to provide anyone aged 18 to 21 in England with access to an apprenticeship, training, education opportunities or help to find a job.

She said those who have been Neet for more than 18 months will be given a six-month paid work placement, to help them prepare for a full-time job.

Anyone who refuses to take up the offer could be stripped of their benefits.

Reeves also said the government would fund a scheme to make apprenticeship training for under-25s at small and medium businesses "completely free".

However, speaking after the release of Milburn's report, shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately criticised the government's policies, claiming Labour had "made it harder for a young person to take their first step into work".

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said her party "repeatedly warned that Labour's jobs tax would hammer job opportunities for young people and that their business rates hikes would kill off high street job opportunities".

In Wales, the Young Person's Guarantee was introduced in 2021 to help 16- to 24-year-olds choose the right course, find an apprenticeship, search for jobs or start a business.

In Scotland, the Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) scheme was announced in the wake of the Covid pandemic to connect young people with appropriate opportunities such as apprenticeships, work experience or formal volunteering.

In Northern Ireland, there are a range of schemes aimed at helping Neets.

Milburn said the number of young people out of work, training or education in the UK is three times higher than in the Netherlands and twice as high as in Ireland.

A 2025 report from the Youth Futures Foundation said the Neet rate in the Netherlands has been steadily under 5% in the last decade.

It said the Netherlands has implemented significant reforms to support youth unemployment over the past two decades, including employment incentives like wage subsidies.

Interventions at national and regional levels include financial support, tailored career guidance, vocational training and structural reforms.

Career guidance in the Netherlands is mandatory in secondary school, and includes information on vocational education, the report said.