For the first time since 2015 there was been a rise in the numbers of young people who are NEET. NEET is an acronym used for young people who are not in education, employment or training.   

Whilst the rise is only slight with an extra 43 young people becoming NEET, with the recession in 2020 and the added stress of the COVID 19 lockdowns on the economy, numbers could be set to rise once again. 

The reason for this rise is currently unknown, however the last time there was a rise like this was in 2015, shortly after the government announced that they would be scrapping the maintenance loan for university students.  For many students, the maintenance loan was the only way they could afford to go to university and this may explain the increase in young people who became NEET that year.

Before this the last major rise in young people becoming NEET was between 2009 and 2011, after the UK came out of the deepest recession since world war two. As of August 2011 the enemployment rate in the UK rose to 8.3%.

Further more recent data shows that over half of 18 to 20 years olds who are NEET, are economically inactive. Economically inactive refers to people who are neither employed nor unemployed. People who are economically inactive neither have a paid job or are looking for one. In 2019, 56% of 18-20 year olds who were NEET were shown to be economically inactive. This is down from 57% the previous year.   

There are plenty of reasons why someone may be economically inactive, such as if they are a carer or maybe have a disability that stops them from working. Whilst the percentage of economically inactive young people is high, it has not varied much over the last 17 years with the lowest percentage recorded in 2011 with just 38%  of young people who were NEET being economically inactive.

However the number of young people who are NEET has been declining over the last three years, with only 954 young people being NEET in 2018.

If you are a young person who is currently NEET and looking for work, help is available on the Youth Employment UK website.