Image source, Abigail Goodge/Joshua Hopkins

The job market is "punishing" for young people, says 26-year-old Joshua Hopkins from Glasgow.

He recently started working at a law firm and is halfway through his three-year CIMA studies to qualify as a chartered accountant. But he describes the barriers as "relentless".

"We’re told to be ambitious, get qualifications, build experience but the reality is that the support simply isn’t there," he says.

What's needed in his view is "investment in apprenticeships, vocational training, and early‑career support".

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Abigail Goodge in Worcestershire says finding work at her age is "impossible".

There are "hardly any jobs" in her local area and the few that are available require you to be 18 or have experience, she says.

"I think the failure also lies somewhat with the school system," she adds, describing little help with CV writing or interview skills.

While some of these things are taught in her sixth form, she says those who want part-time jobs before then "have to figure it out alone".

Hayley Clarke
Education reporter

The number of young people out of work, training or education in the UK is three times higher than Holland and twice of Ireland, Milburn said.

So, why might that be, and what are these countries doing differently?

A report, external from the Youth Futures Foundation from 2025 looked into what they’re doing in the Netherlands.

The Neet rate there is among the lowest in the EU and OECD countries, remaining steadily under 5% in the last decade, it found.

The report says the Netherlands has implemented significant reforms to support youth unemployment over the past two decades, including employment incentives like wage subsidies.

Interventions at national and regional levels include financial support, tailored career guidance, vocational training and structural reforms.

Career guidance in the Netherlands is mandatory in secondary school, and includes information on vocational education.

The charity says the success in the Netherlands is due to many variables – including effective implementation and coordination at local levels, and the availability of funding.

Does the UK have the second-worst Neet rate in Europe?published at 16:27 BST

16:27 BST

By Ben Chu and Daniel Wainwright

The Milburn report says that, among European Union countries, only Romania has a higher rate of young people, external not in employment, education or training - Neet - than the UK.

The UK does now have a higher rate of Neets than most of the EU but differences in the data sources used make it difficult to show exactly where the country ranks.

The EU figures come from Eurostat,, external which uses ages 15 to 24, while the UK’s come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and use a slightly different age range: 16 to 24.

That means the EU countries’ rates could look better thanks to 15-year-olds being more likely to still be in school.

A better comparison we can make is to look at figures for Neets aged 18 to 24, which are collected both by Eurostat, external and the ONS, external.

The UK was in the bottom four with a similar rate to Lithuania and Bulgaria and was a bit better than Romania.

The rankings change slightly depending on whether UK figures are based on all of 2025 (which Eurostat does for EU countries) or the end of 2025 (which Alan Milburn’s report does).

But that doesn’t change the overall pattern - the UK has fallen from mid-table to below most EU member-states.

Image source, Holly Jackson

We've been hearing from young people from across the country about the difficulties they face in trying to find a job.

Here's what they had to say.

• Holly Jackson, 24, from Seaford in East Sussex, says she's been applying for more than 50 jobs a week but is lucky to "even get a rejection email". She adds that it feels "like luck of the draw" and as if "you're just a number"
• "It's humilitating", says 23-year-old Luke, who studied product design at Central Saint Martins, but cannot find a job. He has applied for more than 400 positions and has only had one interview as a cleaner, which he didn't get

• Meanwhile, Andy Wilkins, 26, in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, says: "The job market simply doesn't exist for my current industry. It's demoralising but equally damaging"

• "The more jobs I apply for and the more I get rejected, the worse I feel," says Chelsea Duke, 23, from Pontypridd in Wales
• Niamh Heron, 21, from North Yorkshire, says she is selling crochet patterns and cards on Etsy while she looks for a part-time job after stopping work in September due to long-term poor health

Baz Ramaiah is now being asked what hurdles employers are seeing to put them off employing young people.

He says the simple cost of doing business is making it harder to employ young people.

More young people also have mental health challenges and employers don't feel they have the resources to be able to support these needs, he adds.

Ramaiah says that the government needs to be doing things to take away these risks for employers and take away the burden that comes with taking on more challenging and inexperienced young people.

The Q&A has now ended, but keep following along as we bring you more info about today's report.

Nick Eardley is asked the solutions are to the employment problems facing youth.

He points out that today's report was not the final one and another will be released in autumn. He adds that Milburn says that he does not think there is an easy or quick solution.

Eardley also highlights that Milburn has said that current reforms the government have introduced, including increasing the youth minimum wage and national insurance for employees have been issues brought up by employers. That issue will be raised with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, he says.

Nicola asks if this is a problem for all age groups. She says she is 36 and has a strong CV and career history, but is applying for jobs and hearing nothing back.

Jordan Kenny from BBC Newsbeat says it's a similar story for many, but that there definitely isn't an "upper barrier" for who will experience difficulty in finding employment and finding jobs. Since today's report deals with specifically 16-24 year-olds, that has been the focus of the conversation, he adds.

"It doesn't mean these issues apply exclusively to 16-24 year olds - people who are older may experience the same thing," he says.

Back at the Q&A, the BBC's Netherlands correspondent Anna Holligan is asked about the country being referenced in Milburn's report for tackling the Neet issue more effectively than the UK.

Younger people in Holland are given "no space for dead ends or dropouts" because the system is designed to prevent that, she says.

She explains that the alternative to education is "vocational training and education". This is when you spend one day a week in education on top of three to four days working as an apprentice.

"And that seems to work here," says Holligan, adding that once young people in the Netherlands are out of the "tricky" 16-24 age bracket, they are kept in work and continue in employment.

Image source, Pool

Away from the Q&A, we've just heard from Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"This is a real sobering report, and we cannot afford, we will not allow, a lost generation," he says, stating that the government "clearly needs to [do] more"

Speaking at a training facility in west London where he met with apprentices, the prime minister says Alan Milburn's report shows the issue of young people out of work is a "complex issue" with "no single thing" responsible.

The PM says he is "pleased" by measures the government is putting in place to tackle the issue.

"If a young person's been out of work for 18 months, we're guaranteeing a job for them for six months, we know from previous experience that that gives them a good chance of maintaining that job, so some of those measures are in place," Starmer says.

Head of research at Youth Unemployment UK Baz Ramaiah is asked whether there is a correlation between no work for young people and an increase in the retirement age.

He says that there may be a point there, seeing as while the number of people employed has decreased since 2000, the number of people over the age of 25 and under the retirement has increased.

But Ramaiah says the reason a lot of people are out of work is related to health issues. Meanwhile, he adds, entry levels jobs are also decreasing.

So the real issue is ensuring people have health support to get into work and providing working opportunities at an entry level for young people, he says.

Image source, bbc

BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley is asked why the numbers have spiralled.

He says there are many issues conspiring against young people.

He says that opportunities are down, entry level jobs are down, apprenticeships in the UK are down and the conclusion of the report is that the bottom rungs of the work ladder are proving harder to climb than ever.

While we wait to hear more from our experts, let's turn our attention for a moment to who Neets are, and how many young people in the UK are out of work.

Here's a general refresher on what being Neet means, and the UK is trying to tackle the issue in different parts of the country.

We have a host of experts answering your questions on the growing number of Neets in the UK - including our political correspondent Nick Eardley, our Netherlands-based correspondent Anna Holligan, Newsbeat reporter Jordan Kenny and head of research at Youth Unemployment UK Baz Ramaiah.

They'll be tackling your questions about Alan Milburn's report and why the number of Neets is growing.

To follow along, click watch live at the top of this page.

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Scott Wilson-Laing / WL Distillery

Scott Wilson-Laing graduated into the financial crisis in 2008. His original plan was to join the Royal Air Force - but recruitment for that was "upended", he tells me. Graduate openings also started to "quieten down".

A strategic path of school, degree, then work "wasn’t really what happened to me and most people I graduated with," Wilson-Laing says.

He describes various jobs over the years that followed, including in steel manufacturing and IT. No experience is bad experience, in his view. Just before the Covid pandemic, Wilson-Laing decided to set up his own distillery business.

"Resilience" is his advice to young people today - although he appreciates it’s "a lot easier said than done". He also acknowledges that the world of work is "very different today" than it was in 2008.

Image source, Bobby Seagull

Maths teacher, broadcaster and writer Bobby Seagull graduated shortly before the financial crash and was working at Lehman Brothers as a trader at the time.

He thinks the long-term impact is that people his age have had "very zigzaggy" careers. He says his friends have become everything from comedians to entrepreneurs.

One positive, in his view, is that dislocation makes people "much more flexible in their thinking". That said, he adds: "I really do fear for the future of the job market."

Jack Grey
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

There were 1,012,000 young people aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training (Neet) between January and March 2026, according to the latest data released earlier by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

If you're just catching up, we've compiled what you should know.

The figures

In the report, we learned that the number of Neets has increased by 89,000 compared with the same period last year. The figure is the highest it has been in 12 years - with the group representing 13.5% of all young people in the UK.

The percentage is higher for young men (14.4%) than young women (12.5%) - but both have increased.

The Milburn report

After the release of the figures, we received a report on the issue authored by former cabinet minister Alan Milburn. He warned the number of young people who are Neet could rise to 1.25 million over the next five years.

The report doesn't identify a single explanation for this, but listscontributing factors like fewer opportunities, mental and physical health and lack of support for those using the welfare system.

It also estimates that the growing number of Neets could cost the UK £125bn annually.

At a news conference after the report was published, Milburn said the issue is "probably the most significant challenge facing our country".

What you're saying

From selling crochet patterns to feeling like just a number, we've been hearing from youth throughout the day who are frustrated with job seeking. If you want to share your thoughts, you can get in touch here.

Kris Bramwell
BBC News

Image source, Savanna Cumberbatch

Savanna Cumberbatch, 20, from Banbury in Oxfordshire has been unemployed for the last two years.

She says she currently receives £316.98 a month in Universal Credit, and has applied for around 70 jobs in the last year in libraries, retail and hospitality.

“The previous jobs I've had only lasted for about a month before the managers had to let me go," she says.

“Because they were hospitality based, extremely intense and fast-paced, they felt I couldn't keep up... I knew that fast-paced environments weren't working for me due to my autism," she adds.

Savanna says she has been working with a support worker and a work coach to help her apply for retail jobs, "but most lead to dead ends".

Image source, Andy Wilkins

Meanwhile, Andy Wilkins, 26, in Southend-on-Sea in Essex has been out of work since leaving his last job six months ago.

He has used up £2,000 in savings on "rising bills" and receives £400 a month through Universal Credit.

He’s applied for entry-level jobs at supermarkets, retail stores and fast food chains.

Wilkins, who spent four years studying Media and Communications at the University of East London, says: "The job market simply doesn't exist for my current industry. It's demoralising but equally damaging."

Paul Seddon
Politics reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Much of today's report focuses on areas within the control of government – such as education, health and the welfare system.

But Milburn is at pains to point out that longer-term trends in the economy have also worsened the employment prospects for young people.

A huge proportion of youth employment, he says, is in sectors such as retail, accommodation and food services, areas that have seen a decline in jobs both due to the pandemic and the rise of online shopping.

At the same time, he says that jobs in these sectors have become harder to access, with lower-level positions having become more complex and companies more likely to require prior experience, even for entry-level roles.

Although it is not a big part of the report, Milburn says the rise of artificial intelligence and automation are only likely to create further pressure at the bottom end of the labour market.

If you're currently unemployed, out of work, education or training, you can use the resources below to find support - scroll through for details on each country's services.

How much more does it cost to hire a young person?published at 14:31 BST

14:31 BST

By Ben Chu, policy and analysis correspondent, and Nicholas Barrett

The Milburn report notes that the cost and regulatory burden of employing young people has risen. The minimum wage, external for 21 to 24-year-olds has increased by 65% since 2019-2020 and currently stands at £12.71.

For 18 to 20-year-olds it has increased by 76% and is now £10.85. And for under-18s it is up by 84% to £8.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves also raised employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in her 2024 Budget which added to the cost to firms of employing workers.

Some have linked these factors, external to rising rates of young people not in education, employment or training.

However, a recent study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), external concluded there is no clear evidence that higher minimum wages have been a “major driver” of young people becoming Neets.

The IFS also pointed out that most young adults aged 18–20 are largely exempt from employer NICs, external.

It also notes that the decline in employment among young people began at the end of 2022 – two years before the NICs changes were announced – so judges it unlikely to be the “primary cause” of increasing Neet rates.

We've been hearing reaction throughout the day from politicians around Westminster about today's report.

Here's what they've had to say:

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch: "Labour entered government and hiked employers national insurance, hiked the minimum wage, loaded new regulations on businesses. The result? Employers stopped hiring young people"

Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting: "Essential reading from Alan Milburn today ... Opportunity for young people must be a national cause."

Reform UK's education spokesperson Suella Braverman: "Nearly a million young people not in work or education is a damning indictment of Labour policies which have crushed employers and made it easier for people to claim welfare than do a hard day’s work"

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper: "An entire generation of young people are seeing their hopes and dreams ripped away, just as they enter what is meant to be the best years of their life. Labour cannot claim they were not warned."

The Green Party: "A parliamentary inquiry found 93% of student loan borrowers find repayment terms unreasonable. Education shouldn't mean decades of debt. The Green Party would scrap tuition fees entirely"

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: "Too many young people are finding the first rung of the jobs ladder further and further out of reach."

Image source, PA Media