8 hours ago
The number of young people in the UK who are unemployed and attribute their joblessness to health problems has risen sharply, according to new analysis.
The proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) reporting a work-limiting condition has surged by 70% over the past decade, a charity thinktank has found.
This trend could place the generation "at even greater risk of harm to their future opportunities," the Health Foundation warned.
The findings come as the government announces a youth employment initiative and reforms to apprenticeships.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to introduce a youth jobs grant, offering UK businesses £3,000 for every young person aged 18 to 24 they hire who has been on universal credit and seeking work for six months. Additionally, there will be an apprenticeship incentive of £2,000 for each new employee aged 16 to 24 hired by small- and medium-sized enterprises.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of NEETs aged 16 to 24 was 957,000 in the three months from October to December, up from 946,000 in the previous quarter.
In a speech on Monday, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden highlighted that a person under 25 on universal credit is less likely to find a job than someone over 55 on the same benefit.
"Today the biggest issues facing the system are the challenges of youth unemployment and the growing number of people on long-term sickness and disability benefits," he said. "The number of young people not in education, employment or training is much too high at almost a million. Almost all of the recent rise took place before the last election.
"And within it, the proportion of NEETs who are sick or disabled has doubled in the past decade and is now 46% of the total. Acting on this should be a cause that motivates us all. The human cost is a tragedy. The waste of potential appalling. And the financial cost enormous."
The Health Foundation noted that "the changing health landscape means yesterday’s solutions might not be enough for today’s young people." Their research found that between 2015 and 2025, the share of NEETs reporting conditions that prevent them from working increased from 26% to 44%, a 70% rise.
Last year, more than two-thirds of NEETs citing health issues as a barrier to work reported mental health problems or autism.
However, the Health Foundation emphasized that health problems are not exclusive to NEETs. Over the past decade, the share of all 16- to 24-year-olds reporting ill health as a barrier to work rose from 9% to 16%, a 78% increase.
Sam Atwell, policy and research manager in the healthy lives team at the Health Foundation, said: "There’s been a lot of attention on the growing number of young people who are neither learning nor earning. But our analysis shows the problem runs deeper. More NEET young people are reporting health problems, potentially putting this generation at even greater risk of harm to their future opportunities."
Other announced changes include expanding the jobs guarantee to cover 18- to 24-year-olds, up from 18 to 21, and further reforms to the growth and skills levy to prioritize young apprentices.
The DWP said these changes are supported by an additional £1 billion, bringing total investment in the youth guarantee and the growth and skills levy to £2.5 billion over the next three years.
A government spokesperson stated: "We are committed to ensuring every young person has the opportunity to earn or learn. That’s why we are providing almost £1 billion of additional investment to support young people, helping to create 200,000 jobs and taking the total to £2.5 billion.
"For those young people being held back by health conditions, we are also investing £3.5 billion by the end of the decade to help them back into the workplace."
