Today the Office for National Statistics released the quarterly data set on young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). These figures cover the months from October – December 2022.
The Headlines
- 788,000 young people were NEET, an increase of 64,000 compared with the previous quarter.
- The percentage of all young people who are NEET is estimated at 11.5%, this has increased on the previous quarter by 1.0ppts, and is up 0.1% on pre-pandemic figures (Oct-Dec 2019)
- From October – December 2022, there were an estimated 299,000 unemployed young people who were NEET, up 65,000 from July-September 2022.
- There were an estimated 489,000 economically inactive young people who were NEET, a slight decrease of 1,000 on the last quarter.
NEET Data By Age
58,000 16-17-year-olds are NEET:
- The number of 16-17 who are NEET has increased by just over 10,000 on the last quarter.
- 4.0% of 16-17-year-olds are NEET. This is up by 0.7 ppts on the last quarter.
- 21,500 are unemployed
- 37,000 are economically inactive
730,000 18-24-year-olds are NEET:
- 13.6% of 18-24-year-olds are NEET. This is up 1.0 ppts on the last quarter
- 277,500 are unemployed
- 452,500 are economically inactive
NEET Data By Sex
Males:
415,500 of all 16-24-year-old men are NEET
- 188,000 are unemployed
- 227,500 are economically inactive
- 11.9% of 16-24-year-old males are NEET.
Females:
372,000 of all 16-24-year-old women are NEET
- 110,00 are unemployed
- 262,000 are economically inactive
- 11.3% of 16-24-year-old women are NEET.
Key Definitions
The Office for National Statistics provides the following definitions for the key terms used in this data set.
NEET
Anybody who is not in any of the forms of education or training as listed below and not in employment is considered to be NEET. As a result, a person identified as NEET will always be either unemployed or economically inactive.
Education and training
People are considered to be in education or training if they:
- are enrolled on an education course and are still attending or waiting for term to start or restart
- are doing an apprenticeship
- are on a government-supported employment or training programme
- are working or studying towards a qualification
- have had job-related training or education in the last four weeks
Economic inactivity
People not in the labour force (also known as economically inactive) are not in employment, but do not meet the internationally accepted definition of unemployment because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks and/or they are unable to start work in the next two weeks.
Employment
Employment measures the number of people in paid work, or those who had a job that they were temporarily away from (for example, because they were on holiday or off sick). This differs from the number of jobs because some people have more than one job.
Unemployment
Unemployment measures people without a job who have been actively seeking work within the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.
