In a fireside chat at a manufacturing conference in London, the Chancellor voiced alarm that nearly one million 18-24-year-olds are currently “sitting at home doing nothing” instead of gaining valuable skills or workplace experience.
Official figures show the total number of NEETs in the 16-24 age bracket surged to 987,000 between October and December 2024, up from 877,000 a year earlier. That equates to 13.4 per cent of all young people – a rise of 1.3 percentage points. Reeves emphasised that it is “crucial” to reverse this upward trend, arguing that the nation cannot afford to “waste the best time of their lives”.
Her comments follow criticism from business leaders, who warn the latest budget’s tax hikes could exacerbate the problem by limiting job opportunities. The Office for National Statistics confirmed that 14.4 per cent of young men and 12.3 per cent of young women fall into the NEET category. Of the 987,000 total, 542,000 are men and 445,000 are women.
Stephen Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, said the figures may be a sign of “further trouble ahead in the absence of economic growth,” urging immediate government action to offer young people a job, training place or apprenticeship.
Reeves, meanwhile, highlighted plans to expand apprenticeship access for those who did not achieve English or maths GCSE requirements. She concluded that turning these statistics around must be a priority, insisting: “It is a stain on our country that we are allowing a million people to sit at home doing often nothing.”
Jamie Young
Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the 'covid era' and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine's coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk
