Thirteen per cent of all 16–24-year-olds in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET). This equates to nearly one million young people who are not currently learning or earning. The long-term scarring impact of being NEET for a sustained period of time on young people, society, and the economy, is well known. It is therefore of particular concern that 48% of young people in the UK are still not in education, employment or training a year after they first become NEET, equating to more than 360,000 young people likely to experience the long-term impacts of being out of work or education. A young person’s previous experience of employment matters; 58% of NEET young people in the UK have never had a paid job. 

This briefing from Learning and Work Institute provides an overview of the scale of how many NEET young people there are in the UK, what the characteristics of NEET young people are, and the differences in opportunity between different areas of England. The research is part of wider work L&W is doing, including in partnership with Youth Futures Foundation, to inform the rollout of the Youth Guarantee. 

L&W’s newly updated Youth Opportunity Index highlights that there are substantial disparities in the education and employment opportunities available to young people across England. The best-ranking local authorities are mostly in London, with Sutton coming out on top, while young people in Knowsley have the worst access to opportunities in the country. Poverty and worse opportunities for young people generally go hand in hand but some areas don’t follow this trend; Hackney is ranked among the most deprived places in England but ranks 17th for youth opportunity. 

Since the Index was first published in 2018, the employment and education opportunities available to young people in most local authorities in England have improved, and the gap between the best and worst local authorities has narrowed. This is because the lowest scoring local authorities have seen improvements, rather than because the best scoring local authorities have deteriorated. However, there are still substantial differences in education and employment opportunities both within and between regions of England which need to be addressed. 

These findings show that young people in England are in need of support to access the right opportunities to help them on the path to high-quality, sustainable employment in the long term. The Government’s introduction of a Youth Guarantee in England is a fantastic step in the right direction. However, for the Guarantee to truly work to support all NEET young people to improve their long-term education and employment outcomes, its design and implementation must reflect the diversity of the young people who are not currently participating in the labour market, and the differing opportunities available to them locally.