ONE in eight young people in the UK are not in work, education or training (NEET), with a Northumberland-based former minister warning of a “lost generation” without urgent action.
Stocksfield-based Alan Milburn said numbers could rise by 25 per cent to 1.25 million by the early 2030s, as he published his government-commissioned Young People and Work: Interim Report last week.
Mr Milburn's findings warn that the UK is now facing a "moral crisis" with serious "economic consequences".
"The NEET rate has barely crept below 10 per cent in 25 years," he said.
"What should have been treated as an urgent national crisis has been absorbed into the background noise of public life.
"In this review, we estimate the cumulative annual cost to our country of almost one million NEET young people at £125 billion. That is more than we spend on education each year.
"Today, the deeper problem is youth detachment from the labour market. Nearly 60 per cent of young people who are NEET now are economically inactive. They are not just out of work. They are not looking for work.
"This is a whole system failure. And the price is paid by a generation of young people."
The review finds that six in ten young people who are NEET have never had a job — up from four in ten in 2005 — while the proportion affected by work-limiting health conditions has risen by 70 per cent over the past decade.
"Today, of those who first claimed a health and disability benefit aged 16 to 24, almost half are not in work or education fifteen years later," he added. "This is a catastrophic failure."
Hexham MP Joe Morris said that "young people haven't given up on work" but have suffered more than 15 years of "missed opportunities" to help the next generation into employment.
"Locally, we see additional barriers to employment - a bus network that doesn't always get young people to where they need to go to access the jobs they need, and local trains that could be quicker and more reliable for young people needing to travel to work," he said.
"It isn't that young people don't want to work; the system is stacked against them in a way that it is hard for many of us to appreciate."
Mr Morris said "the jobs are there" and that the national government "must remove barriers to businesses employing more young people", adding that "what works for central London won't work in Northumberland".
Read more
'Cheese is life': new Hexham restaurant delays opening after last-minute setback
Mountain rescue pays tribute to former team leader Barney Barrons
Historic Grade II pub and hotel hits the market
Deputy leader of Northumberland County Council (NCC) Richard Wearmouth said the number of young people struggling to find a job was "very concerning".
He argued that increases in National Insurance and the minimum wage had made things "significantly worse" for employers, making the employment of young people "much less viable".
"I have already challenged council officers to start looking at what more the council can do to help ensure young people have the best possible start in life in Northumberland," said Cllr Wearmouth.
"I would ask any employers who wish to help to get in contact so that we can better link up and tackle this really important issue."
A spokesperson for NCC said tackling "systemic barriers" to work was a priority for the authority "in driving growth and tackling inequality", and highlighted work to link local young people with growing sectors and improve support.
"We're strengthening the relationship between industry and education, providing bridging services between employers with vacancies and unemployed residents, and exploring ways to promote apprenticeships and local employment - particularly in a large, rural county where transport can be an ongoing issue for young people."
Share