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Alan Milburn calls for a 'movement' to address lost generation of young people not earning or learning as investigation opens

ended 16. December 2025

Former Heath Secretary Alan Milburn has today launched his groundbreaking investigation into the causes of record unemployment and inactivity among 16 to 24 year olds with a call for young people and a range of experts to come forward with their views.

With almost one million young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) Mr Milburn is leading an investigation into the causes of soaring unemployment in the young in recent years. Today he used the formal launch of the investigation to set out his ambition to inspire a ‘Movement’ to galvanise communities in all corners of the country.

As well as naming the panel – made up of health, business and policy experts – which will help him to come up with recommendations he launched a call for evidence to help shape the investigation, saying a ‘coalition of the concerned’ must mobilise to save a generation not earning or learning.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: “Too many young people are being denied the opportunity to reach their full potential, and it is a crisis we cannot ignore. This Government has invested a further £1.5 billion to create thousands of work, training and apprenticeships opportunities, but to turn the tide on the longer-term trend we need to understand why so many young people have been left behind. That’s why I’ve asked Alan Milburn to help us build a system that supports them not just to find a job, but to build a better future – because when young people succeed, Britain succeeds.”

Thoughts ASAP please.

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Arabella Harvey
Owner at Raven Botanicals
This investigation needs to look beyond headline unemployment figures and ask how modern childhood is shaping young people’s readiness for work. We can’t address work ethic or resilience without discussing the pervasive role of mobile phones and dopamine addiction.

We must also confront hard truths about an education system that is failing vast numbers of neurodivergent young people. Exam-driven models demoralise those who think differently, rather than nurturing strengths and potential.

If we are serious about reducing the numbers of young people not earning or learning, we must look honestly at the environments we are creating for them. That means examining how digital saturation, attention and brain development intersect with an education system that remains inflexible and exam-driven. This is not a lost generation, but one rich in potential that is being held back by structures that have failed to adapt to how young people learn, think and thrive in the present day.