- Alan Milburn , leading a government review, warns that Britain faces a “lost generation” due to rising youth unemployment , with over 1 million young people potentially locked out of work, education, and training by 2031.
- His interim report predicts the number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) could increase from one in eight to one in six, impacting 1.25 million individuals.
- Milburn attributes this crisis to a “failure of a system stuck in the past” and a severe lack of entry-level jobs, creating a “hopeless Catch-22” where young people cannot gain essential work experience.
- The report highlights a decline of 1.6 million low and medium-skilled jobs, a 35 per cent fall in apprenticeships over the past decade and halved hospitality vacancies, making the first rung of the career ladder inaccessible.
- It criticises the public spending imbalance, where £25 is spent on benefits for every £1 on youth employment support, with business leaders and charities urging urgent action to create more opportunities.
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