Over 1 Million Young People Left Behind — And Britain’s Problems Are Piling Up
Over 1 million young people are now not in education, employment or training. But this is not just a jobs crisis — it is a warning that Britain’s route into adulthood is breaking down.
In my latest chat with Mike Graham, we covered Britain’s youth jobs crisis, Labour’s jobs tax, university debt, welfare, small boats, falling birth rates and the political chaos now facing the country. Britain’s problems are no longer isolated. They are connected.
The latest figures show 1,012,000 young people aged 16 to 24 are now not in education, employment or training. That is 13.5% of all young people in that age group. Even more worrying, 613,000 are economically inactive — not working, not looking for work, and not available to start.
That is not just another labour market statistic. It is a warning sign that Britain’s school-to-work pipeline is breaking down.
For years, young people were told the route to success was simple: stay in education, get qualifications, go to university, take on debt, and the opportunities would follow. But too many are now leaving school or university with debt, weak job prospects, hundreds of job applications going nowhere, and no clear first step into working life.
This is not a “lazy generation” problem. It is a system problem.
Watch the full interview below.
What We Covered
The first issue was the youth jobs crisis. The first rung of the ladder is disappearing. Employers are being asked to take on inexperienced young workers at a time when the cost of hiring is going up. Labour’s jobs tax does not fall on a spreadsheet. It falls on the young person who never gets the interview.
We also discussed the university route. For some young people, university is absolutely the right choice. But too many are being pushed into degrees with weak links to the jobs market, taking on large debts, then entering an economy where AI is already threatening entry-level white-collar roles. The question is no longer just “should I go to university?” It is: what job will this lead to, what skills will I have, and will that job still exist in five or ten years?
Welfare, Borders And The Cost Of Failure
The welfare system came up too. It should be a safety net, not a holding pen. When young people spend months or years outside work, they lose more than income. They lose routine, confidence, experience and momentum. Compassion is not writing people off in their teens or twenties. It is helping them back into work before long-term dependency becomes normal.
We also covered small boats. 1,128 people crossed the Channel in just five days. That is not border control. It is a system reacting to the weather. More deals, more money and more announcements have not changed the basic incentive. The boats keep coming and the taxpayer keeps paying.
Birth Rates And Political Drift
Then there is the birth rate. England and Wales had 585,396 live births in 2025, while the fertility rate fell to 1.39 children per woman. That is well below replacement level. If young people cannot get secure work, afford homes, start families or feel confident about the future, falling birth rates should not surprise anyone.
And politically, this is why voters are restless. Labour promised change, but people see higher taxes, higher employment costs, weak growth and no sense of grip. The Conservatives lost trust after years of failure. Reform has gained from that collapse, while others are now trying to claim the anti-establishment space.
The Real Point
These issues are not separate. Youth unemployment, university debt, welfare dependency, small boats, falling birth rates and demographic change all point to the same deeper failure: Britain is not giving enough people a clear route into a secure and productive life.
The real test for any government is simple. Can young people get started? Can businesses afford to hire them? Is education connected to work? Is welfare moving people into employment? Is the border controlled? Can families afford children?
Right now, Britain is failing too many of those tests.
Britain is not short of young people with potential. It is short of a system that gives them a proper chance.
And the first step is admitting the system is broken.
✍️ Jamie Jenkins
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Perhaps we should pay greater heed to Lord Wolfson of Next (sounds very GOT, no? :-)) "Lord Wolfson said the clothing and homeware chain, where he has been chief executive since 2001, typically received 10 applications for every job in its shops in 2024 but that number has now risen to 19.
“That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment,” he told the BBC." https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/26/next-boss-entry-level-jobs-lord-wolfson-youth-unemployment
The figures suggest many are keen to get started in the world of work but the world of work itself is no longer providing access. As Wolfson himself observes, via the Guardian, "Traditionally, young people often get their first week experience at a shop stacking shelves or serving drink and food in a restaurant, cafe or pub. Wolfson said, because of the cost increases, Next had fewer staff in individual shops, while its online business was thriving." So increasingly any scenario where you once had a whole lot of people employed in retail is being replaced by a scenario where you have a handful of people employed in warehouses. They too, together with the delivery drivers, will soon be replaced by robots & AI.
While the usual suspects (Milburn, Whately) are, like hamsters despairingly running in their wheel, still hopelessly trying to appease their corporate masters by pretending reducing social security will make all well by forcing people into employment (which can't happen as that work increasingly doesn't exist anymore), the real issue looms inescapably before us, affecting workers & bosses alike; how are people who traditionally earn as part of the manufacturing/retail process going to earn money to buy things when those processes are all automated so there's no work?
It seems to me we're going to need a lot more social security, not less of it.