For years, Britain’s welfare debate has revolved around one question: how can we prevent the spiralling numbers of people moving onto benefits, particularly among the young. It isn’t just an issue of the impact on the lives of the millions not working but the disastrous fiscal consequences. Today, a new review overseen by former health minister Alan Milburn dramatically highlights exactly how bad the position is for Neets – those not in work, employment, education or training. It also poses the critical question of what happens when an entire generation risks becoming permanently detached from work altogether?
Milburn’s review is a sobering read. It describes a Britain facing a ‘generational fault line’, with growing numbers of young people increasingly trapped outside the workforce before they have even begun adult life. More than half of economically inactive young people have never had a job at all. Twenty years ago, that figure was closer to four in ten. Worryingly, Britain’s record is significantly worse than other comparable western countries like Ireland and the Netherlands.
Milburn is right not to understate the issue. His review lays bare the scale of Britain’s welfare and inactivity crisis in stark terms. Economic inactivity has surged since the pandemic, millions more people are now claiming incapacity or disability-related benefits.
