The Keep Britain Working Review published in early November is the latest expression of widespread concerns over the levels of economic inactivity in the UK. For years this challenge has hit young people particularly hard. Recent data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that 948,000 young people aged 16–24 classed as not in education, employment or training (NEET). These are more than just statistics—they represent a crisis which incurs significant costs to young people's futures, their communities, and employers who struggle to fill vacancies.
The causes behind these statistics are varied, but our research has revealed some common barriers to education or work young people in the UK face that lead them to becoming NEET. For instance, over half of young people classed as NEET report having a health condition—this is an important characteristic of the UK NEET youth and a more prominent issue among this group compared to the overall 16–24 population. Moreover, many young people in the category of economically inactive NEETs also face complex challenges, caring responsibilities, or deep-seated disengagement from formal systems.
There is no quick fix to this crisis, but here's the good news: we don't need to start from scratch. Around the world, countries have pioneered bold, effective approaches to better support young people who are NEET. RAND Europe's research with Youth Futures Foundation uncovered a wealth of proven strategies from across the EU and OECD member countries—approaches that have transformed lives and may be suitable for the UK to adapt to its own landscape.
Around the world, countries have pioneered bold, effective approaches to better support young people who are not in education, employment or training.
The evidence shows that tackling high NEET rates demands an integrated and multipronged strategy to adequately address the varied needs of this diverse population. One country where such a strategy has been implemented to good effect is the Netherlands. To maintain low NEET rates, the Dutch system includes various support mechanisms, such as the requirement to obtain basic qualifications, career advice from secondary education, support for school leavers seeking work, assisting early school leavers without qualifications, supporting young unemployed people with benefits, and offering tailored municipal support for unemployed youth without benefits. Clearly defined regional coordination structures through labour market regions encourage local stakeholder engagement and integrate efforts of education providers, employers, and municipalities. For example, after completing compulsory education, young people aged 18 to 23 who have not yet obtained the required qualifications continue to be monitored by schools and regional centres. In each region, designated 'contact municipalities' coordinate these efforts to ensure that young people stay engaged until they attain the basic qualification. These formally mandated structures offer an example of successful decentralised implementation with strategic national framework.
Personalised support is also crucial. In Denmark, the 'Bridging the Gap between Welfare and Education' initiative has invested heavily in tailoring support to each participant's specific needs and preferences. Each young person is assigned a single, consistent point of contact at the job centre who also acts as a mentor, ensuring continuity and trust. This is complemented by close, ongoing monitoring throughout the intervention.
The programme has delivered statistically significant improvements in educational enrolment and completion rates—outperforming other active labour market policies (ALMPs) both within Denmark and internationally. The impact has been especially strong among young people assessed as 'not ready for education' and those with mental health challenges. This illustrates the power of sustained, individualised support in driving meaningful outcomes. The UK could draw on this model by embedding consistent mentoring, ensuring each participant has a dedicated contact at their local job centre or Youth Hub, and designing tailored action plans that address cognitive, educational, health, and social barriers.
Hands-on, real-world work experience has also been proven to be useful in reducing NEET rates around the world. Australia's 'Work for the Dole' (WfD) programme exemplifies this approach by combining mandatory work-like placements with skills training tailored to local labour market demands and, where possible, aligned with participants' interests. This integrated model helps participants build essential work habits and job-ready skills. While the programme's long-term impact is debated, it has yielded modest but meaningful short-term gains, including increased part-time or casual employment and improved transitions off income support.
Some of the examples considered above are well-placed for adoption in a UK context. Work-focused interventions—such as job search assistance, subsidised placements, or employer engagement schemes—are potentially highly transferable to unemployed NEETs without extensive adaptation. Interventions that have proven particularly effective for young people with health conditions (for example Individual Placement and Support, Job Corps and Social and Preventive Medicine Consultation) may also be highly transferrable to the UK given the health conditions of many young UK people who are NEET. Further, other interventions which are found to be more effective for women (than men), such as the integrated programme of active labour policies (PIPOL) in Italy, or the Social and Preventative Medicine Consultations in France, may require relatively little adaptation to be effective for women in the UK. However, to achieve similar overall impacts in the UK, such programmes may need to be adapted to specifically engage and retain young men (given the UK has a marginally higher proportion of NEET men), who may require different outreach, content and support formats.
But adopting policies or programmes that have worked elsewhere is not a simple matter of replication. Interventions designed for well-regulated or unionised labour markets (as seen in France) may require more substantive adjustment in the UK context of more flexible and fragmented employment. Essentially, international interventions that are more transferable than others is where the country has a similar institutional or policy setting to the UK, and when they are addressing youth populations and labour market dynamics that mirror (or resemble) those in the UK.
Getting young people on a successful and rewarding path to work is not just an essential step in their wellbeing, but key to overall economic success and growth—both for individuals and for society. Even aligning the UK's NEET rates with those of the Netherlands could boost the UK economy by £86 billion. The solution to the UK's NEET crisis is not necessarily to reinvent the wheel but to take inspiration from proven success stories and tailor them to the UK's unique challenges. By learning from international success stories, the UK can build a system that truly supports young people in their transition from education to employment, sets them on a pathway that's right for them and improves the UK's economic prosperity. With the right mix of integrated support, personalised guidance, practical training, and education reforms, we can turn the tide on NEET numbers. The clock is ticking, but with bold, decisive action we can create a future where every young person can succeed, contribute, and thrive.
