There has been a sharp rise in the number of unemployed young people in the UK citing health problems as the reason they are not working, according to analysis.
The proportion of young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training (known as NEETs) and who reported a condition that limits their work has increased by 70% in a decade, according to a charity think tank.
The trend is potentially putting this generation “at even greater risk of harming their future opportunities,” the Health Foundation said.
The findings are published as the government announces a youth employment campaign and a review of apprenticeship programmes.
Among the initiatives to be launched by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are a youth employment grant, through which UK businesses will receive £3,000 for every young person aged 18 to 24 they hire who has been on universal credit and looking for work for six months, and an apprenticeship incentive of £2,000 for every new employee aged 16 to 24 hired by a small and medium-sized business.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of NEETs aged between 16 and 24 was 957,000 in the three months from October to December, compared to 946,000 in the previous quarter.
Announcing the changes in a speech on Monday, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden will point to a statistic showing that a person under 25 on universal credit is less likely to get a job than someone over 55 on the same benefit.
“Today, the biggest problems facing the system are the challenges of youth unemployment and the increasing number of people receiving long-term sickness and disability benefits,” he will say. “The number of young people not studying, working or training is too high: almost one million. Almost all of the recent increase occurred before the last elections.
“And within it, the proportion of NEETs who are sick or disabled has doubled in the last decade and now represents 46% of the total. Acting on it should be a cause that motivates us all. The human cost is a tragedy. The waste of potential is appalling. And the financial cost is enormous.”
The Health Foundation said that “the changing health landscape means yesterday’s solutions may not be enough for today’s young people.”
The think tank’s research found that between 2015 and 2025, the proportion of NEETs reporting conditions that prevented them from working increased from 26% to 44%. This represents an increase of 70%, stated the Health Foundation.
Last year, more than two-thirds of NEETs who cited health problems as a barrier to working did so because of mental health problems and autism.
However, the Health Foundation said health problems were not unique to NEETs. It said that over the past 10 years, the proportion of all 16- to 24-year-olds reporting health problems as a barrier to work has risen from 9% to 16%, an increase of 78%.
Sam Atwell, policy and research manager for the Health Foundation’s healthy living team, said: “Much attention has been paid to the growing number of young people not learning or earning. But our analysis shows the problem runs deeper. More young NEETs are reporting health problems, potentially putting this generation at even greater risk of harming their future opportunities.”
Other changes McFadden will announce include extending the jobs guarantee to a wider age range from 18 to 24, from 18 to 21, and new revisions to the growth and skills levy to prioritize young apprentices.
The changes are backed by an additional £1 billion, bringing total investment in the youth guarantee and additional investment in the growth and skills levy to £2.5 billion over the next three years, the DWP said.
A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring every young person has the opportunity to earn or learn. That is why we are providing almost £1bn of additional investment to support young people, helping to create 200,000 jobs and bringing the total to £2.5bn.”
“For those young people who are held back by health problems, we are also investing £3.5bn until the end of the decade to help them return to the workplace.”
