Press Release: More than one in ten 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training
Responding to new Government figures showing that the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) is rising, with more than one in ten 16-18 year olds in England not engaged in any positive activity, Shadow Universities and Skills Secretary, David Willetts said:
“This is more evidence that young people are bearing the brunt of the recession. But this problem has been getting worse for more than ten years, long before the recession began. Now that times are harder, the problems are becoming more acute.
“To add insult to injury, the Government department designed to help school leavers into work, university and further education has recently been abolished just two years after it was set up. We need a Government that is on the side of young people.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The Department for Children, Schools and Families today published a Statistical First Release on ‘Participation in education, training and employment by 16-18 year olds in England’.
It showed:
· An increase over the last year in the proportion of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEETs) from 9.7% at the end of 2007 to 10.3% at the end of 2008.
· A significantly higher proportion of young people are now NEET than when Labour came to power - 8.9% of 16-18 year olds were NEET at the end of 1997, compared to 10.3% at the end of 2008. (Table 5)
The Statistical First Release is available online: