Pub bosses warn tax hikes driving youth unemployment crisis June 1, 2026 Pub bosses have warned that Labour tax hikes are driving the youth unemployment crisis, which is pushing the UK towards an “economic catastrophe”. Several hospitality leaders have called on the government to reverse its increases to employer national insurance contributions (NICs), which pubs say are making it harder for them to hire young people. Last [...]
Milburn NEET review: Anger crackles from the page but will Labour act? June 1, 2026 Alan Milburn's review into Britain's economically inactive youth (or NEETs) makes for extraordinary reading, but will the government act?
Milburn review: Youth unemployment crisis costs £125bn a year due to ‘broken system’ May 28, 2026 The crisis of nearly a million young people who are out of education, employment or training – known as ‘Neets’ – costs the UK economy up to £125bn a year, the Alan Milburn review has found, as both the government and the private sector were blamed for failing to address youth unemployment. An extensive report [...]
Number of Neets passes 1m May 28, 2026 The number of Neets, otherwise young people not in education, employment or work, jumped past 1m in the first three months of 2026, official data has revealed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said that there were 1,012,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 out of work in the first three [...]
Sunak calls for minimum wage quango to be abolished May 24, 2026 Former Chancellor and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that his decisions to hike the national minimum wage backfired as he called for a quango overseeing low pay to be abolished. Sunak appeared to admit that his decision to increase the national living wage has contributed to job struggles faced by young people. In an [...]
‘Economic catastrophe’: Social media and welfare state ‘to blame’ for youth unemployment May 23, 2026 Social media and the welfare state are pushing Britain towards an “economic catastrophe” over youth unemployment, a landmark government review has found. Smartphones have “rewired” the brains of young adults and left them trapped in unemployment, former health secretary Alan Milburn has found in an official report commissioned by Sir Keir Starmer. Labour ordered the [...]
King’s Speech shows incremental change is all Starmer knows May 13, 2026 Keir Starmer says incremental change won't cut it, yet his King's Speech was nothing but tinkering and rearranging, writes Matthew Bowles.
McDonald’s targets jobless Gen Z with ‘UK’s largest work experience programme’ April 22, 2026 McDonald’s has launched the UK’s largest ever work experience programme in a major recruitment drive that will specifically target the ballooning number of young Brits that are neither working nor in full-time education. The fast-food chain will hand out some 2,500 paid placements to young workers over the age of 16 as part of a [...]
Unemployment is rising and top bosses want to do something about it March 25, 2026 Business giants have come together to find ways of hiring more people currently out of work as private sector bosses move to play a more active role in improving the state of the UK labour market. Company chiefs from the likes of BT, Shell, Marks & Spencer and Pret have joined a new, non-governmental ‘Employer [...]
Incompetent managers will sink the government’s NEETs plan March 20, 2026 Scrapping all funding for management apprenticeships is a big mistake, says Petra Wilton If Pat McFadden wants more young people not in education, employment or training (known as NEETs) to succeed in work, this week’s decision to essentially wipe out all funding for management apprenticeships, which train the managers who hire, support and coach them [...]