When a young person leaves education, their chance of finding decent work shouldn’t depend on luck, postcode or background. Yet almost a million 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (NEET). More than six in ten are economically inactive, and NEET rates have hit their highest recorded level in a decade.
This isn’t a new story. England has lived with entrenched youth unemployment for too long. The government’s refreshed youth guarantee is welcome, but it is a safety net, not the solution.
Unless it sits within a connected, long-term youth employment strategy, we will keep treating the symptoms of youth unemployment, not its causes.
For years, Youth Employment UK and partners in the Youth Employment Group have called for a joined-up national offer. Fragmentation has failed young people. Post-16 education, skills funding, careers support, employer incentives and local delivery are too often designed in isolation, leaving young people to navigate a complex and unfair system.
A youth guarantee must be part of a wider youth promise connecting learning, skills and work, not another short-term scheme.
Quality post-16 choices and careers advice
Our Commission on Post-16 Education Reform highlighted how too many young people lack access to clear, inclusive pathways. High-quality technical routes, accessible apprenticeships and supported internships must be available in every community, backed by flexible funding and equitable access.
The Youth Futures Foundation’s toolkit shows how combining learning, mentoring and real work experience drives better outcomes.
Young people tell us they want early, accessible, trusted careers support, not a system that only reaches them after they have fallen out of education or work. Moving careers advice into Jobcentres risks narrowing its reach further.
The 2025 Youth Voice Census found only half of young people rate their careers guidance as good, and just a third feel Jobcentres understand their needs.
The government should guarantee universal careers support up to age 25, available through schools, youth hubs and community partners, not just at the Jobcentre door.
The jobs guarantee: essential, but not enough
A modern skills system must centre on young people while also incentivising employers.
Local skills improvement plans can help shape priorities, but delivery must be joined up. Youth hubs and local partnerships should act as the front door to opportunities, and a single national employer platform could simplify engagement and strengthen quality.
The youth guarantee can succeed if it builds on past successes. Evidence from Kickstart shows employer take-up depends on simplicity and generosity.
A 100 per cent wage subsidy is critical to engage private, public and voluntary sector employers. Quantity is not enough, though. Quality must be guaranteed. Jobs should meet the Good Youth Employment Standards on pay, supervision, training and progression, and run for at least six months.
For young people furthest from the labour market, wraparound support like coaching, wellbeing, health, and confidence-building is essential.
Building permanence, not pilots
Short-term schemes create churn. A permanent youth guarantee infrastructure that’s nationally funded, locally delivered and able to scale with economic conditions would give the UK the standing youth employment promise that many other countries already have.
It would also allow employers to plan confidently, embedding young people as part of their long-term workforce strategies.
Right now, around 400,000 NEET young people are hidden – not on benefits and invisible to the system. A joined-up data spine linking the Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and local authorities would help track each young person’s journey from learning to earning, building transparency and accountability.
What needs to happen
The 2025 Youth Voice Census offers a powerful mandate for change. We urge the government to:
- Secure a young person’s entitlement to core skills, enrichment and at least two meaningful work experiences before leaving education
- Guarantee early help, within six months of leaving education or work, with multi-agency support for those furthest from the labour market
- Make the youth guarantee permanent, fully funded and quality assured
- Resource local partnerships and youth hubs to join up provision and reach hidden NEETs
- Lead a national culture shift, making opportunity visible, youth-friendly and co-designed with young people
The jobs guarantee can serve as a safety net, but a connected system means fewer young people will fall into it.
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