National improvement to NEET rate but local challenges remain

“The level of youth disengagement in education and work has now fallen so that it is close to pre-recession levels; with just 13.5 per cent of the youth population not in education employment or training.
This is welcome news but policy makers should not be complacent. For those that do become NEET many remain so for more than a year, which can have profoundly damaging consequences for their future earnings potential, and increased likelihood of further spells of unemployment.

Moreover, an increasing proportion of those that do manage to move into work are finding themselves underemployed – wanting to work more hours or wanting full time work – in unskilled, low wage jobs with little chance of progression. Government needs to do more for these young people currently living in the UK NEET blackspot areas. Whilst the latest data shows improving national figures, it masks the dire situation facing young people in cities such as Grimsby, Bradford and Wakefield where around a quarter of young people out not in education, employment or training.