A lost generation, or is there still time to stem the rising tide of young people disengaging from work and education?

If it isn't a disaster, the situation is certainly on the cusp of a crisis. As of June of this year an estimated 948,000 people in the UK aged 16 to 24 were "NEETs" – "not in education, employment or training". One out of every eight in this age group is on the sidelines when it comes to earning or learning and the longer this continues, the harder it will be to resolve.

Furthermore, the proportion of young people who are NEET has been rising since 2021 and is currently around its highest since 2014.

Behind those numbers are real lives – ambitions stalled, potential wasted, and a growing sense of disconnection from the world of work. It's a serious social issue, and an economic timebomb.

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Research has repeatedly shown that prolonged periods of inactivity during youth leads to lower lifetime earnings, a higher risk of unemployment, and poorer health outcomes. One study, for example, estimates a "wage scar" of the magnitude of 13–21% for a year of youth unemployment by the time that person is 42 years old.

The problem has been identified before, but a cure has proven elusive. The reasons and solutions for this situation are varied, and interact in........

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