- Alan Milburn, the government’s jobs tsar, has warned that Britain faces an "economic catastrophe" from youth unemployment , with 729,000 young people aged 16 to 24 unemployed and 957,000 considered Neets (not in education, employment, or training).
- Milburn's interim report identifies a "rising tide of mental ill-health, anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity" as the main reason for high economic inactivity among young people.
- He links these issues to growing up in a digital age and extensive social media use, describing a "bedroom generation" whose "rewired" communication and concentration levels are impacting their ability to work.
- The report argues that the welfare state, "built for a different era," must change to prevent a "generational, societal and economic catastrophe" and avoid young people being trapped in worklessness.
- A related report contributing to Milburn's review also highlighted social media as a driver of a "quitting culture" and suggested that the education system, with its focus on exam pressure, has become a "Neet pipeline".
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