UK to adopt Dutch-style jobs system

The government is to roll out Dutch-style employment support for young people across Britain as it steps up efforts to tackle rising numbers of those not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

The Department for Work and Pensions said almost 180 new Youth Hubs will begin opening from next week, providing wraparound services that coordinate education, welfare, and employment support.

The move follows the introduction last year of a standard blueprint for Youth Hubs, designed to ensure they include essential services such as health, housing, and wellbeing support while reflecting local needs and partnerships.

The announcement comes as the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who are NEET has reached one million.

Lessons from the Netherlands

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden visited a youth point in Rotterdam, where he spoke to employers and educators about the impact the services have for young people in the Netherlands.

The Dutch system uses “Jongerenpunt” youth points to bring services under one roof, and the country records one of the world’s lowest NEET rates.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions, the Netherlands has a NEET rate of 4.9% among 18 to 24-year-olds, compared with 15.1% in the UK. The Resolution Foundation has said that if the UK were to match the Dutch NEET rate, 600,000 more young people would be in work or education today.

The department noted that the Dutch result comes despite the fact that young people in the Netherlands rank second in the world for depressive symptoms, behind the UK, and report anxiety disorders at rates slightly below Britain’s.

The Netherlands also has a stronger record on vocational training. Around 35% of young people there pursue technical and professional pathways, compared with 22% in the UK, and more than half of Dutch young people have workplace experience by the age of 19.

How the new Youth Hubs will work

Britain’s new Youth Hubs will operate in settings where young people already are, including football clubs, community centres, and libraries.

Like the Dutch youth points, they are intended to act as one-stop shops where young people can access support ranging from CV advice and housing help to mental health support.

Every local area across Britain will get a Youth Hub, with 360 hubs to be opened by 2029.

McFadden said that in the Netherlands, inactivity is treated as a last resort, while in the UK, young people are too often signed off without engagement or support.

He said the government should learn from the Dutch approach of having a pathway for every young person, and that the expansion of Youth Hubs, alongside a £2.5 billion investment in the Youth Guarantee, would create more than 200,000 jobs and apprenticeships and deliver the biggest reforms to apprenticeships in a decade.

A wider youth employment drive

The Department for Work and Pensions said more than one million 16 to 24-year-olds are currently NEET, with the figure rising by almost 250,000 since 2021. More than half report a health condition.

The £2.5 billion being invested over the next three years is intended to support almost one million young people and deliver up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.

This includes enhanced apprenticeship support and greater incentives for businesses to hire and train people who have been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months.

The government has also introduced a £2,000 incentive for each new employee aged 16 to 24 taken on by a small business.

National Insurance Contributions are waived for most employees under 21 and for apprentices under 25.

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