Fact Service December 2021

Issue 48

NEET numbers climb

The number of 16 to 24 year olds in the UK classed as NEET – not in education, employment or training – has risen to 689,000, according to the Organisation for National Statistics (ONS). Of those, 368,000 were men and 322,000 women.

The ONS reports that, after two periods of significant decreases, the percentage of all young people who were NEET in July to September 2021 reached 10.1%, up 0.9 percentage points on the previous quarter.

It reports that there were an estimated 269,000 young people in the UK who were NEET and unemployed (that is, looking for/available for work) in July to September 2021, which is described as a record low. However, there was a record quarterly increase of 70,000 in the number who were NEET and economically inactive (that is not looking for/available for work), currently estimated to number 421,000.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/youngpeoplenotineducationemploymentortrainingneetuknovember2021