According to major media reports, the number of 16 to 24 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEETs) in Britain was 957,459 in December 2025. This represents an increase from 921,198 in the three months to June 2024, with the number rising by over 11,000 since September 2024. One in eight people aged 16 to 24 years in Britain are now NEETs, though the source and methodology for these December 2025 figures have not been specified.
Conservative politicians have accused the Labour government of presiding over record levels of youth unemployment, the lowest graduate recruitment levels ever, and what they describe as a conveyor belt of young people going straight from education to welfare. ' Conservatives allege that 700,000 graduates are now on benefits, though evidence supporting this specific claim has not been detailed. The breakdown of NEETs by region, gender, or other demographics remains unclear.
Young people are doing everything we ask of them, studying hard, taking on debt, trying to build a future, yet nearly a million young people are completely trapped.
In response to the situation, Conservatives have proposed a plan called the New Deal for Young People. According to major media reports, this plan includes abolishing above-inflation interest rates on Plan 2 student loans to reduce the amount many graduates will have to pay, ending low-value 'debt-trap' degrees, and doubling apprenticeships. Helen Whately elaborated on the Conservative proposal, saying, 'The Government is killing opportunities for the next generation, but Conservatives have seen what's happening and have a plan.
' Additional components of the New Deal for Young People include helping 100,000 more young people into apprenticeships each year by lifting the cap on funding for 18-to-21-year-olds. The plan also features a 'First Job Bonus' where the first £5,000 of National Insurance paid by any British citizen in their first full-time job will go into a personal savings account for a house deposit or future savings, which is described as giving young people a £5,000 tax cut. ' What specific policies the Labour government has implemented to address youth unemployment has not been detailed in the available information.
The Government is killing opportunities for the next generation, but Conservatives have seen what’s happening and have a plan. Our New Deal for Young People will abolish real interest rates on Plan 2 student loans, end low-value 'debt-trap' degrees, double apprenticeships, and give young people a £5,000 tax cut - our First Job Bonus - to help them save for a first home.
Comparisons of the NEET figures to historical trends or other countries also remain unknown. The Conservative opposition continues to frame youth unemployment as a central political issue as they promote their alternative policy approach.