Of the near 1M 16 to 24 year olds Not in Education, Employment or Training 300,000 are hidden.
Why?
Because they don’t claim benefits.
They told government researchers that signing on marks you out as workshy. So they stay at home, Mum and Dad pay the bills and they keep applying.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies calls them hidden NEETs.
Shorter blog this time as much of this is drawn from my recent piece on LBC. Link at the bottom.
Here are three things to consider.
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About 300,000 young people are out of work and claim nothing at all. This week’s Budget didn’t help them. Alan Milburn’s final report has to.
1. They might not be who you think
Only 2% of this group say sickness or disability keeps them out of work, against 27% of NEETs on benefits.
Among 22 and 23 year olds, more than half have a degree and three quarters are actively looking for work. Four in five live with their parents.
They did as advised by working hard, getting the grades, going to university and expecting doors to open. Which they haven’t thus far.
Among 22 and 23 year olds, one in five have been out of work for more than 18 months.
2. The Budget walked straight past them
Truth be told it wasn’t just them, the whole NEETs thing seems to be on ice until the final Milburn report is published and then the government response.
It seems suspicious to me that those two events do not come together. The government knows what is in it, why not respond straight away?
A benefits crackdown can’t touch the hidden NEETs because there’s nothing to cut. The awkward part for the Treasury is that helping them saves nothing either. A problem that costs no money in the short term is a very easy problem to leave until later.
But they are paying already in lost earnings, lost confidence and a growing gap at the start of their careers. And for the graduates among them, the student loan interest keeps ticking over regardless.
3. Milburn has to fill the gap
Alan Milburn’s interim report called hidden NEETs one of its most troubling findings. His final report is expected to recommend a separate benefits system for young people, with more intensive support to get them into work.
That may help those who claim. It does nothing for 300,000 who don’t.
What they need is JOBS.
A first rung, not a threat. Because you cannot sanction a young person into a job market they’ve never set foot in.
More in my recent piece for LBC
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/benefits-crackdown-neets-milburn-report-budget-jobs-opinion-5HjdkPq_2/
And if you’ve not seen it the Milburn interim report
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/young-people-and-work-interim-report
Also
Institute for Fiscal Studies, Off the radar: who are NEETs not claiming benefits?, September 2026: 300,000 hidden NEETs out of 870,000 aged 18 to 24; 54% have a degree; 74% actively looking; four in five live with parents
and
DWP research report 136, qualitative research with NEET 16 to 24 year olds, August 2026: signing on seen as marking you out as workshy
FAQs
What is a hidden NEET?
A hidden NEET is a young person not in education, employment or training who claims no benefits, so they sit outside Jobcentre support entirely. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates around 300,000 of the 870,000 NEETs aged 18 to 24 in Great Britain are hidden, many supported by their parents instead.Why don’t hidden NEETs claim benefits?
Many told government researchers that signing on marks you out as workshy. That stigma, found in 2026 DWP research for the Milburn review, keeps them away from Jobcentres. Their families fill the gap instead: the Institute for Fiscal Studies found four in five hidden NEETs live with their parents.Will the Milburn review help hidden NEETs?
Probably not directly. The final report is expected to recommend a separate benefits system for young people with more intensive work support, which only reaches those who claim. Milburn’s own survey found 84% of NEETs want work, education or training. The gap is jobs, not willingness.
