The government is launching an independent review into rising levels of youth inactivity.
Former Workplace Health Secretary Alan Milburn will lead the inquiry into “NEETs”, the acronym for one in eight young people who are not in education, work or training.
According to Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, the persistently high number of young people aged 16 to 24 leaving education or work is a “crisis of opportunity” requiring urgent action.
It is not a new problem, but the number of young NEETs has been increasing in recent years and is approaching one million.
A quarter cite long-term illness or disability as a barrier and the number of claims for health and disability benefits is also increasing.
The government says Alan Milburn’s review will delve into the reasons behind the rise and examine ways to reduce the long-term costs of youth inactivity and get young people off benefits and into work.
Their conclusions will be published next summer.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has branded the wider benefits system unsustainable and unfair, but selling welfare reform to Labor MPs has so far proven to be a political minefield for Number 10.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions, the number of young people claiming the UC Health and Employment Support Grant has increased by more than 50% in the last five years.
About 80% of youth in the UC Health element currently cite mental health reasons or a neurodevelopmental condition.
Asked if he thought overdiagnosis was fueling a mental health crisis among young people, McFadden was quoted by the Sunday Times as saying: “I don’t want to play amateur doctor. I want to approach this sensitively.
“The question I ask is, given the higher reported number of these conditions among young people, what is the best policy response? I don’t think there should be an automatic link between diagnosis and benefits.”
“If we get it right,” he added, “the prize is enormous: transforming lives and life chances, with the pent-up potential of the next generation driving our economy and building a better future for all.”
“We cannot afford to lose a generation of young people to a life on welfare, without job prospects and without enough hope.”
Milburn said his review would be “uncompromising” and expose any failures to support employment, education, skills, health and wellbeing.
“We cannot stand by and allow a generation of young people to be condemned to a life without jobs or prospects,” he said. “It is clear that urgent measures are needed.”
