MINISTERS must “turbocharge” plans to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neet), the TUC said today after figures showed the total edging closer to one million.  

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the number of Neets aged 16 to 24 rose by 11,000 to 957,000 in the last quarter of 2025.

This is more than one in eight of the age group, pointing to a tough labour market, particularly for entry-level positions.

Mr Nowak said: “It’s been years in the making … The toxic mix of austerity, further education and apprenticeship failure, an insecure work epidemic and stagnant economy under the Conservatives resulted in a whole generation of young people badly let down.”

Last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her “youth guarantee,” committing to offer guaranteed paid work for every eligible young person who has been out of education or work for 18 months.

Mr Nowak added: “With the jobs guarantee, stronger employment rights, apprenticeship reforms and an industrial strategy, this government is on the right track to turn things around — and it is welcome that rates of economic inactivity are now falling.  

“But the government needs to turbocharge its efforts. The jobs guarantee can make a real difference in giving young people real experience of paid work, but it must be ambitious in scale and scope — and we need to see further apprenticeship reforms to improve access and completion rates.”

He added that the Low Pay Commission should be “trusted” to set out a plan to abolish minimum wage youth rates during this parliamentary term.

Work Foundation think tank director Ben Harrison warned that disabled young people “are hit particularly hard, and there is a considerable risk that more young people will slip into long-term worklessness unless government acts to address the causes of this rise.”

The Neet category covers people who are unemployed or economically inactive and not in formal education or completing an apprenticeship or vocational course.

Joint head of the ONS labour market division, David Freeman, said the “slight increase” in youth Neet levels compared with the previous quarter had been “driven by higher unemployment, with more young people actively looking for work.”

Earlier this month, the ONS said the overall unemployment rate for Britons had risen to 5.2 per cent in the three months to November.