Labour Faces Rising Tide of Young Worklessness in UK Youth Employment Crisis

Pat McFadden, the newly appointed Labour Work and Pensions Secretary, has placed the focus of his tenure squarely on reintegrating idle young people into the workforce. The scale of the problem is stark: nearly 950,000 individuals aged 16 to 24 are now classified as NEETs—neither in education, employment, nor training—reflecting an increase of 200,000 since the pandemic began.

McFadden has argued that many young people have lost the habit of work entirely, warning that if this pattern persists as they transition out of school, it may become increasingly difficult to reverse. Economic observers note that employment gains achieved in the late 2010s are in danger of being wholly erased. With an average working life of fifty years ahead of them, the cost of a failing start is permanent, both for individuals and the wider economy.

Yet official plans to intervene may already lag behind the curve. The root of the crisis extends back into the education system itself, where attendance has plummeted. National data exposes a troubling surge in persistent absenteeism: 1.3 million pupils across England now regularly miss school, with one in six children absent at least 10 percent of the school year. This figure stood at 10.9 percent before the pandemic but has since ballooned to 17.8 percent. Even more severe, 148,000 children missed at least half their lessons last autumn, up nearly threefold since 2019.

These statistics, collated by the Centre for Social Justice, indicate that disengagement from structured environments begins long before young people reach working age. Dan Moynihan, CEO of the Harris Federation, highlights behavioural shifts at home and school alike; parents increasingly treat education as optional, and pupils themselves can now dictate attendance with little consequence. Absenteeism is highest on Mondays and Fridays, echoing the work-from-home trends seen among adults.

Significant repercussions flow from this absentee culture. Persistently absent pupils earn substantially less as adults, with average lifetime earnings by their late twenties £10,000 below their regularly attending peers. Their academic performance suffers—half as likely as others to secure passing marks in key GCSEs. Mental health outcomes worsen, and rates of young offending climb threefold within two years of leaving school. Perhaps most ominously for policymakers, persistent school absentees are six times more likely to become NEETs, with at least 180,000 additional young people projected to follow this path if absence rates are not brought under control.

Addressing this challenge extends beyond short-term job schemes or benefits reform. The crisis has its roots in cultures of attendance and parental engagement, intertwined with the disruptions wrought by the pandemic. Effective intervention requires a preventive approach, beginning early within families and the school system. Left unchecked, entrenched worklessness and rising mental health pressures will continue to drive up health benefit costs, threatening the UK’s fiscal position and the economic prospects of an entire generation.