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NEET: Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training

The term NEET refers to young people (aged 16 to 24) who are not in education, employment or training. Studies have shown that time spent NEET can have a detrimental effect on physical and mental health, and increase the likelihood of unemployment, low wages, or low quality of work later on in life.

The accompanying Excel download provides data from the Department for Education for upper tier local authorities. 

NEET statistics

The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of the number of young people who are NEET, based on its Labour Force Survey.

The NEET rate is rising

In January to March 2026, 1.01 million people aged 16 to 24 were NEET, which was 13.5% of people in this age group. This was an increase of 55,000 from the previous quarter and an increase of 89,000 from the previous year.

This was the first time that the number of young people who are NEET has exceeded 1 million since 2013.

The proportion of 16–24-year-olds who were NEET increased following the 2008 recession and peaked at 16.9% in July to September 2011. The proportion of young people who were NEET gradually fell and returned to pre-recession levels in 2014.

The proportion has been rising since 2021, and rose to their highest level since 2014 in January to March 2026. 

Most NEET young people are not seeking work

In January to March 2026, 39% of the young people who were NEET were unemployed. The remaining 61% were economically inactive, which means they were not working and not looking for work.

The number of young people who were NEET because they were unemployed increased by 45,000 in the year to January to March 2026, and the number who were NEET because they were inactive increased by 44,000.

The number of young people who were NEET and economically active increased to its highest recorded level in January to March 2026 since comparable records began in 2001.

More men than women are currently NEET

Historically more women than men have been NEET, but in recent years there have generally been more men who are NEET than women. The number of men who are economically inactive has been rising over the last couple of years, mainly due to an increase in the number of men who are long-term sick or disabled.

Policies to reduce the number of people who are NEET

On 10 November 2025 the government launched an independent investigation into the rise in youth inactivity. This is in response to an increase in the number of young people who are NEET.

The review was led by the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Alan Milburn, who worked with a panel of expert advisers to identify reasons why the number of young people who are NEET has increased. It focused particularly on mental health conditions and disability as barriers to participation in the workforce. The review will also make recommendations aimed at re-engaging young people who are already NEET and stopping other young people from becoming NEET.

The review began with a “discovery phase” which ended with the publication of an interim review in May 2026 which examined why NEET rates have increased. The discovery phase will be followed by the “solution phase” which will identify potential areas for reform. The final review will be published in summer 2026.

The government outlined various initiatives in the November 2024 Get Britain Working White Paper to reduce the number of people who are NEET in England.

These initiatives include the Youth Guarantee, which will mean young people will have access to further learning, help to get a job or an apprenticeship, and will include support that is available across Great Britain. In the Autumn Budget 2025 the government announced funding of £820 million over the spending review period (the three years from 2026/27 to 2028/29) for the Youth Guarantee.

On the 16 March 2026 the government announced further components to the Youth Guarantee, and referred to these as a “New Deal” for young people.

The government has also made various changes to apprenticeships policy to encourage more young people to become apprentices.