The UK military is becoming Gen Z’s backup plan as youth unemployment hits a 10-year high
Young Brits in desperate search of a job are increasingly signing up to the military, with the government looking to exploit a trend that could help address both its youth unemployment crisis and depleted armed forces.
The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds hit 16.1% in early 2026. This is the highest level in more than a decade and the first time it has been above the European Union average on record.
Nearly 732,000 young people in that age group were unemployed as of November 2025–January 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics, and the total number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment, or training (NEET) neared 1 million.
Applications to join the forces have risen in tandem, an analysis by Bloomberg shows. The latest Ministry of Defence figures show applications to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines regular forces jumped 24.3% in the 12 months to September 2025, while RAF regular applications rose 24.6%, both hitting their highest levels in more than five years. Army applications have fluctuated but showed gains in earlier periods amid the broader jobs slump.
The squeeze on entry-level jobs stems from multiple pressures. Sharp increases in the minimum wage for younger workers, higher employer payroll taxes, and the automation of routine tasks by AI. Employers have pulled back on hiring just as post-pandemic graduate schemes evaporated.
The timing couldn’t be better for the armed forces, which faces its own workforce crisis. The Army has shrunk from more than 110,000 regulars in 1997 to around 74,000 today -the smallest since the Napoleonic era.
Overall, the UK regular forces strength hovers near 137,000. Britain is confronting Russian aggression in Europe, the need for greater Arctic presence, potential peacekeeping in Ukraine, and defending against Iranian-backed threats in the Middle East.
As of October 2025, 26.2% of UK regular forces were under 25, up from pre-pandemic levels, and 64.8% of recent officer intake fell in the 20–24 age bracket. For the first time since 2021, more people joined the armed forces than left in recent reporting periods.
