The UK now has the third-highest NEET rate in Europe

Britain’s growing group of young people who are neither in employment, education, nor training (NEET) is now the third-highest in Europe.

New analysis from the Resolution Foundation, published on Tuesday (28 April), shows the NEET rate for 18- to 24-year-olds has climbed from 13% in 2019 to 15% in 2025

That equates to roughly 900,000 young people currently disconnected from work or learning, more than three times the rate seen in the Netherlands.

Labour market and health concerns drive recent rise

Just over half of the increase since 2019 is linked to a weaker jobs market.

However, youth unemployment levels are not unusually high by historical standards, suggesting that recent tax changes and minimum wage increases are not the sole culprits.

The other major driver is a sharp rise in ill health. The proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds who are economically inactive due to health reasons has jumped by half, from 2.8% to 4.2%, with poor mental health the dominant factor.

This mirrors a broader increase in young people reporting health conditions that limit their daily activities.

While better youth mental health support is essential, the Resolution Foundation warns that reversing the recent health deterioration alone would still leave the bulk of the UK’s NEET challenge unresolved.

Structural weaknesses set the UK apart

Longer-term structural issues help explain why the UK lags behind peer nations such as Germany and Denmark (both on 9%) and the Netherlands (5%).

The gap is driven primarily by education, not employment.

Across 23 OECD countries with lower NEET rates than the UK, nearly all close the difference through higher education participation.

In the UK, just 22% of young people are in vocational education, compared with 35% in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany. Many British youngsters leave education earlier due to limited high-quality vocational options.

The benefits system also stands out for its hands-off approach.

The number of 18- to 24-year-olds on benefits with no requirements to engage with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has nearly doubled from 160,000 to 300,000 since 2019.

By comparison, low-NEET countries treat no-engagement policies as a last resort, instead offering training, rehabilitation, and subsidised work opportunities.

Potential prize is substantial

The Resolution Foundation calculates that simply matching the Dutch NEET rate would see an additional 600,000 young people in work or education. This would boost their lifetime earnings and ease long-term pressure on public finances.

As the government’s Milburn Review examines ways to tackle NEET rates, the report makes several targeted recommendations:

• Further investment in youth mental health services
• Ring-fencing at least two-thirds of the apprenticeship levy specifically for young people
• Introducing personalised engagement and support for every under-25 on Universal Credit

“The share of young people in Britain who are neither earning nor learning is rising, and is now significantly higher than in our peer countries,” said Lindsay Judge, Research Director at the Resolution Foundation.

“While the post-pandemic increase is explained by a weaker labour market and rising ill-health, longstanding issues like weak vocational education, and a benefits system that both expects and provides too little to its claimants, are also playing a major role in Britain having the third highest NEET rate in Europe.”

Judge noted that fixing Britain’s NEET crisis starts with investment in youth mental health support and vocational education, and a serious rethink of how young people interact with the benefit system.

“That is how countries like the Netherlands keep their NEET rate a third of ours,” she said.

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