Youth unemployment costing the UK £125bn a year
A new government report has highlighted the scale of youth unemployment in the UK and warned of the growing personal and national cost.
Its Young People and Work: interim report revealed that nearly a million people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training. This equates to one in eight people in that age group.
Of this number, it estimates that 60% are not just unemployed, but no longer even looking for work.
The report states that this is costing the UK £125bn a year.
Work experience
It has identified a lack of work experience opportunities as the single greatest barrier to employment for young people.
Meanwhile, a failed apprenticeship system is another contributing factor with apprenticeship starts for under 19s in England alone falling from 130,000 in 2014 to just 75,000 in 2024/25.
The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in 2017 to reverse the slide but has had minimal impact with most employers using the funds to upskill existing employees rather than training new ones: this number has increased from 2,000 in 2010/11 to more than 140,000 in 2024/25.
Additionally, the report has found a long-term decline in employer investment in training – falling 36% in the last two decades.
Structural breakdown
The report said: “Britain is no longer facing a marginal youth employment problem. It is confronting a systemic failure at the point where a generation is supposed to transition into adulthood.
“This is not a temporary shock. It is not a post-pandemic hangover. It is not a question of motivation or culture. It is a structural breakdown with profound consequences for economic performance, fiscal sustainability and social cohesion.
“What is no longer credible is to do nothing and hope that economic growth alone will solve the problem.”
