Alan Milburn’s recent report on young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) highlights one of the most pressing social and economic challenges facing the UK today. The rising numbers should concern all of us, not only because of the impact on the life chances of individual young people, but because they point towards a deeper issue that sits beneath the surface of our education, health and social care systems.
Much of the discussion surrounding the NEET population focuses on employability, skills development, economic participation and workforce readiness. These are undoubtedly important considerations. However, after more than twenty years working alongside young people in schools, mental health services and community settings, I have become increasingly convinced that we are often looking at the final chapter of a story while paying insufficient attention to the chapters that came before it.
By the time a young person becomes disengaged from education, training or employment, there has frequently been a long period during which they have struggled with anxiety, overwhelm, low self-worth, social disconnection, trauma, chronic stress, neurodiversity that has gone unsupported, family adversity or a growing sense that the demands of everyday life exceed their capacity to cope. Many of these young people are intelligent, creative and deeply capable. What they often lack is the internal foundation that allows them to navigate challenge, recover from setbacks and engage confidently with the world around them.
The language of “work readiness” has become increasingly common in discussions about young people. Yet before a young person can become ready for work, they must first develop the capacity to be ready for life. They need to understand how to manage stress, how to regulate strong emotions, how to communicate effectively, how to build healthy relationships, how to tolerate uncertainty and how to maintain a sense of purpose during periods of difficulty. These capacities underpin educational achievement, employment and social participation, yet they rarely receive the same level of attention as academic attainment.
What concerns me most is that many of the difficulties experienced by young people are visible years before they become NEET. Teachers see the anxiety. Parents see the withdrawal. Youth workers witness the loss of confidence. Health professionals encounter increasing levels of emotional distress. The signs are often present, yet support frequently arrives only when difficulties have become entrenched and opportunities have already begun to narrow.
In many cases, the challenge is not a lack of ambition. It is not a lack of intelligence. It is not a lack of potential. The challenge is that many young people have spent years carrying levels of stress and emotional burden that make it extraordinarily difficult to engage with education, relationships or future planning. When we describe these young people as disengaged, we risk overlooking the reality that many are working incredibly hard simply to get through each day.
The rise in mental health difficulties among children and adolescents has profound implications for the future workforce. Young people who struggle to attend school because of anxiety often become young adults who struggle to attend college or work. Young people who never develop effective strategies for emotional regulation often find themselves overwhelmed by the demands of employment, training or independent living. The trajectory is neither inevitable nor irreversible, but it does require intervention far earlier than the point at which a young person leaves education.
At TeenYoga, we have consistently observed that when young people are given practical tools to understand and influence their internal state, significant changes become possible. The ability to notice stress in the body, regulate the nervous system, develop emotional awareness and cultivate self-compassion creates conditions in which learning, confidence and engagement can flourish. These are not peripheral skills. They are foundational capacities that influence every area of life.
The NEET conversation therefore needs to move beyond a narrow focus on employment pathways and begin addressing the conditions that enable young people to access those pathways in the first place. If a young person is struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma or chronic dysregulation, the provision of careers advice alone is unlikely to transform their future. If, however, that same young person develops greater emotional resilience, self-awareness and confidence in their ability to manage life’s challenges, opportunities that once felt inaccessible can begin to feel achievable.
What Alan Milburn’s report highlights so clearly is the scale of the challenge. What it also offers is an opportunity to rethink where we direct our attention and resources. Alongside investment in skills, training and employment programmes, we need a far greater commitment to prevention, early intervention and emotional wellbeing. We need to recognise that readiness for employment is built upon readiness for life, and that readiness for life emerges from experiences that help young people develop agency, resilience, connection and self-understanding.
The young people represented in the NEET statistics are not simply absent from education or employment. They are often young people whose needs were visible long before they reached that point and whose potential remains every bit as present today as it was when they first entered the classroom. The challenge before us is to create systems that recognise those needs earlier, respond more effectively and equip young people with the inner resources required to thrive.If we succeed, we will do far more than reduce a statistic. We will create a generation of young people who possess the confidence, adaptability and emotional strength to participate fully in society, contribute meaningfully to their communities and shape a healthier future for themselves and those around them.