The government has launched a major review into youth unemployment, tasking former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn with investigating the growing role of mental health and disability in the rise of economically inactive young people.
Nearly one million people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are currently not in education, employment or training (Neets) — a figure that has alarmed ministers and policymakers. Milburn’s review will explore how to prevent young people from becoming trapped outside work or education, with findings expected to be published next summer.
The announcement comes just days after the Mayfield Review, led by former John Lewis chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield, warned that “young adults” aged 16 to 34 were at the heart of Britain’s “economic inactivity crisis”. His report found that the number of 16- to 34-year-olds who are long-term sick and inactive due to mental health conditions has risen by 190,000 since 2019, a jump of 75 per cent.
Launching the review, Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, said the UK faced a “crisis of opportunity” among its younger generation.
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