UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham called Monday for stronger job and skills support for young people, arguing that welfare payments alone do too little to help them enter employment.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that 981,000 UK residents ages 16 to 24 were outside employment, education and training in April to June 2026, or 13% of that age group. Released Aug. 27, the estimate was 30,000 higher than a year earlier and 30,000 lower than in the previous quarter.
Among them, 393,000 were unemployed and 588,000 were economically inactive. The latter category covers people not seeking work and/or unavailable to start work.
Writing in The Times on Oct. 19, Burnham argued that the number of young people outside employment, education and training carried economic and moral consequences, Anadolu Agency reported. He said assistance should begin with a young person's goals and the help needed to pursue them, rather than an assessment of benefit eligibility.
Burnham said benefits should remain available to people unable to work. For those who could work with appropriate help, he argued, the government should do more to connect them with skills and jobs. He criticized a welfare process that, in his view, too often ends after a payment.
Burnham cited limited job opportunities, the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns, social media and an education system he said placed too much emphasis on university. His earlier proposal for a youth support guarantee included mental health support, work placements and apprenticeships.
A May interim report from a government-commissioned review led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn identified fewer entry-level routes into work and health barriers. It estimated the annual cost to the UK associated with nearly 1 million young people outside employment, education and training at £125 billion. The report found that six in 10 people in the group had never held a job, compared with four in 10 in 2005.
Burnham said Milburn's next review is expected in November. The ONS is scheduled to update its figures Nov. 26.
