The Milburn Review found that six in 10 young people had never had a job, as GMB’s Amelia Beckett reports
Youth unemployment is the most “significant challenge facing our country today” and risks a “lost generation”, a landmark review has found.
The report, led by former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn, warns that a “whole system failure” has led to nearly one in seven of the UK’s 16 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training, known as Neets.
The Prime Minister responded to findings, saying youth unemployment is the most “significant challenge facing our country today”.
Keir Starmer called it a “sobering report” and insisted that the government “need to do more”.
He was visiting an engineering training facility for apprentices in London with Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and was keen to detail their current plans for young people.
Giving his reasons for the report being commissioned, Starmer said he had “been really worried about young people”, describing the issue of unemployment as “complicated and complex”.
Starmer highlighted the scheme for employers where they can access a £3,000 support payment for hiring a young person who has been unemployed for at least six months and is given an apprenticeship to give them “the start that they need”.
The new figures published on Thursday showed more than 1,012,000 young people, aged 16-24, were not in training, education or employment (Neet) between January and March 2026, a post-pandemic high. This is a 55,000 increase compared with the previous quarter, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures.
Milburn said this means there is a “risk of a lost generation” and that Britain “faces a generational fault line” – but he warned there are no easy solutions.
Launching the report, the former health secretary warned that the number of unemployed young people could reach 1.25 million within the next five years.
Young people who remain Neet between 18 and 24 could lose £300,000 over their lifetime, he said, warning: “Opportunities are not growing, they’re shrinking”.
There are 1.6 million fewer low and medium-skilled jobs in the economy, while hospitality jobs have “halved in the last four years” and apprenticeships have fallen by 35% over the last decade, the report said.
Six in ten young people had never had a job, with anxiety linked to social media also driving economic inactivity among the age group.
Speaking at the launch of his report, Milburn said that young people today are “not worse, not lazier, not less capable” but instead are different.
The former health secretary cited their experience “growing up in a digital world” and the impact of the pandemic, explaining how they are “more open about mental health” and are “more anxious”.
The review showed 84% of Neet young people said they wanted a job, while Milburn rejected “the caricature of a generation that is not interested in work”.
Milburn called for urgent action from the government and said tackling the issue should be a priority, with too many young people heading for a “life not in jobs, but on benefits”.
The major report found that if this crisis continued, “one in 20 of all today’s five-year-olds will be on incapacity benefit by the time that they are aged 22.”
Recommendations for fundamental reform are expected in Mr Milburn’s final report, which is due to be published in the autumn.
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