Almost 1MILLION young Brits still jobless or out of school as entry-level roles vanish and unemployment surges

ALMOST one million young people in Britain are still neither working nor studying, shocking new figures reveal. The Office for National Statistics says 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training (NEET) between April and June this year. That marks a rise of 30,000 compared with the same period last year, although it is down 30,000 on the previous quarter. The figures mean 13% of all young people in the UK are now classed as NEET. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! That proportion has crept up by 0.2 percentage points over the past twelve months. Young men appear to be bearing the brunt of the crisis, with 13.7% now NEET, up 0.4 percentage points on last year. Among young women, the rate stands at 12.3%, roughly unchanged from a year ago. Of the 981,000 total, 530,000 are young men and 451,000 are young women. Nearly 400,000 of those classed as NEET are unemployed and actively looking for work, up by 26,000 on the year. The number of jobless young men searching for work rose by 24,000, while the equivalent figure for young women rose by just 3,000. Most read in Money The remaining 588,000 young people who are NEET are economically inactive, meaning they are not currently seeking or available for work. That figure has crept up by 4,000 over the year, split roughly evenly between men and women. Looking specifically at 18 to 24-year-olds, 894,000 fall into the NEET category, representing 15.2 per cent of that age group. The ONS figures have sparked fresh concern about the state of the graduate and entry-level jobs market, with many employers cutting back on junior positions. Experts have repeatedly warned that opportunities for school and university leavers have dried up in recent years, leaving thousands stuck in limbo. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has already said the system has been built for too long round university route with some young people seen as second-class citizens. Labour grandee Alan Milburn is leading a review into the NEETs issue saying there is a risk of an “economic catastrophe” along with a “moral crisis”. He has previously said that the failure to put technical and university education on a level playing field is a “big part” of the problem. It comes after Ms Powell said forcing schools to prioritise academic learning had resulted in the Neets crisis. But critics have hit out at their policies such as hiking the minimum wage. She added: “In the years to come we need to do more to break this cycle. “We’ve got to put an end to kids leaving school without the qualifications – both academic and vocational – that set them up for life with a clear line of sight to employment.” Comment now