Centre for Social Justice · 2025
Nearly one million 16–24-year-olds in the UK are NEET — an increase of around 200,000 since the pandemic — with payrolled employment for under-25s still below pre-pandemic levels. The report identifies two main groups driving the rise: young people who are economically inactive due to sickness (predominantly mental/emotional and cognitive difficulties) and so-called 'other' NEETs who have minimal contact with government services and are largely from low-to-middle-income households. Drawing on secondary analysis of the LFS, FRS and UKHLS, plus a commissioned GP poll and focus groups with frontline charities, the CSJ argues that the current welfare system traps sick NEETs in inactivity and proposes a Future Workforce Credit — paying employers 30% of a NEET's salary — alongside expanded Connect to Work and SWAPs to reverse the rise in NEETs.