Local Labour Market Buoyancy Holds The Key To Solving The UK’s NEET ‘Crisis’
New report by City-REDI Associate Professor Donald Houston examines the geographic inequalities in young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) across the UK.
National policies to the NEET ‘crisis’ will not work in many places. The national response is focused chiefly on supply-side enhancements, with little emphasis on job creation or work placements at scale.
This report argues that the UK's rising NEET rate is not just a youth skills or health issue, but a geographical and economic one, with large differences between local areas driven primarily by the strength of local labour markets.
Analysis of a new dataset covering 179 UK regions found that local unemployment is a much stronger predictor of youth NEET rates than poor qualifications or health, suggesting that job availability and economic opportunity are key factors in whether young people become disengaged from work, education or training.
The report concludes that national, supply-side policies alone will not solve the NEET crisis, and calls for more localised, devolved approaches that combine skills and health support with job creation, economic development and employer incentives tailored to local labour market conditions.
Meet the Author
Donald Houston specialises in local labour markets, in particular unemployment, economic inactivity, health, migration and commuting. Other research interests include housing, transport and flooding. He has held a number of research grants and projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), charities and local and central government. He was seconded to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2023 and continues an association with ONS.