Response has called for greater investment in youth services and employment support programmes after new figures showed almost one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
The Oxfordshire-based mental health charity made the appeal during Mental Health Awareness Week, urging policymakers to adopt a more proactive and person-centred approach to supporting young people.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 957,000 people aged 16 to 24 are currently classified as NEET, representing 12.8 per cent of all young people in that age group.
Independent government-commissioned reviews found poor mental health and disability to be the two main drivers behind the highest NEET levels since 2014. The number of young people not in education, employment or training has risen by 25 per cent since 2021.
The same review found NEET young people are almost twice as likely to have a health condition as their peers. It also reported that annual spending by local authorities on youth services has fallen by 73 per cent since 2010, equivalent to a reduction of £1.2 billion each year.
Jamie Douglas, associate director of Response Youth, said:
“The pipeline into NEET status is growing, and yet the capacity to respond has been hollowed out.
“There is a direct correlation between a young person not being in education, employment or training and poor mental health, although this isn’t one-directional.
“Having feelings of no purpose damages mental health, and poor mental health makes it harder to get back into work or training. It’s a vicious cycle.”
A survey by The King’s Trust of 4,000 young people found that half of NEET respondents felt hopeless about the future, while 30 per cent said unemployment had directly caused a mental health problem. More than a quarter said their mental health had prevented them from applying for jobs.
Mr Douglas said the findings reinforced the need for investment in resilience coaching and accessible mental health support, adding that youth services should focus on flexibility, presence and patience to build trusted relationships and intervene early.
