Youth Unemployment in the UK: Why We Can’t Afford to Wait | MyPocketSkill

Author: Matthew Harker - Co Founder and Co- CEO of MyPocketSkill

The UK’s youth unemployment challenge is not simply about a lack of jobs. It is about a lack of accessible first opportunities, the barriers that prevent young people from taking them and a system that too often waits until they are already struggling before offering meaningful support.

In November 2025, the government commissioned Alan Milburn to investigate why rising numbers of young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The interim report, published in May 2026, explored the scale and causes of the problem. The full report, setting out the recommendations for reform, is now due after the October Budget.

At MyPocketSkill, we see this challenge every day. Having supported more than 250,000 young people, we know that many want to work, earn money, develop skills and become more independent. So the question is: why are so many still locked out of work?

The problem is often not motivation. It is access to opportunity.

When young people are given the chance to earn, even in small, flexible ways, their confidence grows, motivation increases, and their future feels possible . And they need those opportunities before months of rejection or inactivity begin to undermine their confidence.

Recent government action, including the new Youth Jobs Grant, is a welcome step. But right now, too many never get that first chance.

1. The missing first step into work

One of the biggest barriers facing young people is getting that first job.

Entry-level roles increasingly demand previous experience, while informal routes into employment through family, friends and personal networks are not available to everyone.

In sectors like software and IT, more than 60% of entry-level roles now require 3+ years of experience. Technology and AI are also changing the nature of early-career work. As some traditional entry-level tasks become automated, young people may find fewer opportunities to learn on the job.

This creates a vicious circle: employers want experience, but young people cannot gain experience without someone giving them a chance. We hear this directly from the young people we support. They are competing for opportunities against more experienced applicants, often without having had a realistic chance to demonstrate their own abilities.

The answer is to create more ways into work. Paid work tasters, short projects, micro-internships and flexible, task-based opportunities like MyPocketSkill can help young people build a track record, earn money and demonstrate their potential.

Not every first step needs to be a permanent job. But it should be a meaningful opportunity to learn, contribute and progress.

2. Starting work costs money

For a young person with limited financial support, getting a job can be expensive before the first payslip arrives.

Transport, work clothing, equipment, phone credit and food all cost money. Even attending interviews or taking part in work experience can create financial pressure.

Research from the Prince’s Trust NatWest Youth Index 2024 highlighted this problem: 5% of young people surveyed had turned down a job because they could not afford the upfront costs, rising to 10% among those who were NEET.  Just last week, we heard from young people at the BBC Teen Summit who were unable to take up work experience often offered in London as they couldn't afford to get there in the first place.

Unpaid work experience can make the situation worse. While intended to help young people gain experience, potentially useful but unpaid placements like the new T Level qualification often exclude those who can’t afford to work for free.  We’ve seen examples of young people having to take out part-time jobs in addition to working for an employer for free.

This is why paid first opportunities matter. Even modest earnings can help cover the costs of participation while giving young people a sense of achievement and greater financial independence.

If we want young people to engage with work, we need to make taking that first step financially possible.

3. Confidence and readiness matter

The impact of COVID is still being felt. The effects of disrupted education and lost opportunities during the pandemic continue to feature in our conversations with young people.

Some lack confidence in interviews or unfamiliar workplaces. Others need more opportunities to develop communication, teamwork, reliability and the everyday routines associated with employment.

And with the current mental health crisis and neurodevelopmental trends, for some, the workplace feels overwhelming. For others, it simply feels like work “ isn’t for people like me”, especially where local labour markets are weak ( place - based effects).

Without gradual, supportive entry points into work, this lack of confidence can quickly turn into long-term disengagement. These challenges should not be mistaken for a lack of ambition.

Confidence grows through doing. A supportive first opportunity can help a young person learn how to communicate with an employer, work with others and see the value of their contribution.  In fact, in a survey of young people working via MyPocketSkill, 89% said working with clients made them feel more confident about working with employers in the future.

The earlier we provide those opportunities, the better the chance of preventing temporary difficulties from becoming long-term disengagement.

4. Employers need a simpler way to offer first chances

Employers have their own barriers to overcome. Recruiting a young person can involve time, supervision, onboarding and safeguarding considerations. Smaller businesses, in particular, may lack the capacity to manage complicated recruitment processes or provide extensive training without support.

There are also persistent misconceptions about younger workers. If employers assume that young people will require too much support or lack the necessary skills, they may overlook capable applicants before giving them a chance. Research shows that young people can be misguidedly typecast as burdensome and expensive:-

• 34% of employers feel young people are overly sensitive
• 27% feel they are entitled
• 23% feel they are lazy
• 9% have rejected a young person due to age
  

We need to make it easier for businesses to start small and build confidence in young talent. That means providing practical support such as:

• Ready-to-use role descriptions and structured work tasters.
• Simple onboarding and clear expectations.
• Guidance on safeguarding, insurance and compliance.
• Funding to help cover recruitment, training and supervision.
• Flexible ways to offer short projects and paid work experience.
  

The aim should be to reduce the perceived risk of hiring a young person while creating genuine opportunities for young people to prove themselves.

5. The Youth Jobs Grant: welcome progress, but why wait six months?

The government’s Youth Jobs Grant is an important development. Launched on 30 June 2026 as part of the Youth Guarantee, the scheme offers eligible employers £3,000 for each qualifying hire. It is designed to encourage businesses across Great Britain to recruit and train young people who face barriers to entering the labour market.

The grant is available for eligible 18–24-year-olds who have been receiving Universal Credit and out of work for at least six months. Qualifying jobs must meet the scheme’s requirements, including minimum hours and duration.

This is welcome support. It recognises that employers need practical financial incentives to recruit young people and that public funding can help unlock opportunities that might otherwise not exist.

But from our perspective at MyPocketSkill, there is a fundamental question: why wait until a young person has been unemployed for six months before giving an employer this additional incentive to hire them?

Six months is a long time at the beginning of a career.

During that period, a young person can lose confidence, miss opportunities to build experience and become increasingly disconnected from the world of work. The longer that continues, the harder it can become to re-establish a routine and find a route forward.

The grant is also an employer incentive, not a payment that young people can simply claim themselves. A young person who has been unemployed for less than six months cannot make themselves eligible by applying directly for the funding.

That distinction matters. We should not confuse support for people who have already been unemployed for some time with a strategy for preventing youth unemployment in the first place.

We need both.

The Youth Jobs Grant should sit alongside a much broader offer of early intervention: paid work tasters, micro-internships, short projects, skills development and supported introductions to employers. These opportunities could help young people build experience before they reach the six-month threshold. They could also give employers a practical way to assess talent and develop relationships with potential recruits.

The policy question is not whether the Youth Jobs Grant is useful. It is whether we are doing enough before a young person becomes eligible for it. We should be incentivising employers to open doors early, not relying on six months of unemployment as the point at which support becomes more attractive.

6. We should not rely on apprenticeships alone

Apprenticeships remain a valuable route into a career. They combine paid employment with structured learning and can provide a strong foundation for progression.

But they are not the right immediate answer for every young person or every employer.

Some young people need an opportunity to gain confidence and basic workplace experience before they are ready for an apprenticeship. Some employers need a lower-commitment way to identify and develop talent before offering a longer-term training programme.

That is why flexible, paid pathways matter.

Short projects, work tasters, micro-internships and sector-specific experiences can help bridge the gap between education and employment. They can also help young people discover what they are good at before committing to a particular occupation.

These opportunities should not replace apprenticeships. They should create more routes towards them and other forms of sustained employment.

7. Earn and learn should go hand in hand

At MyPocketSkill, we believe earning and learning can reinforce each other.

When young people take on paid projects and meaningful tasks, they gain more than money. They can develop practical skills, learn to manage responsibilities and build evidence of what they can achieve.

That experience can then be combined with bite-sized training, digital and communication skills development, sector tasters and a personal record of achievements.

The result is a more visible pathway from a first opportunity to greater responsibility, sustained employment and financial independence. In a survey of young people working via MyPocketSkill:-

• 89% said signing up motivated them to start earning
• 88% reported developing their skills
• 87% said it encouraged them to save
• 64% said it improved their CV and job prospects.

This is particularly important in a changing labour market, where young people need to demonstrate not only what qualifications they hold but also what they can actually do.

We should be helping young people build that evidence from the earliest possible stage.

8. What would we like to see from the full Milburn Review?

The Milburn Review: Young people and work is an opportunity to look beyond individual programmes and examine how the education, skills, employment, health and welfare systems work together.

The interim report, published in May 2026, provided an initial diagnosis of the rising numbers of young people who are NEET, with particular attention to young disabled people and those with health conditions.

The full report, due after the October Budget, is expected to set out further recommendations for reform.

At MyPocketSkill, we believe the next stage must focus on practical changes that make it easier for young people to participate in work and learning before they become entrenched in inactivity.

There are several priorities we would like to see reflected in the wider policy response.

Earlier intervention. Support should begin before a young person reaches six months of unemployment. The aim must be to prevent people becoming disconnected from work, rather than simply helping them return once they have been out of it for a prolonged period.

More paid first opportunities. Young people need practical ways to gain experience and earn money, including short, structured opportunities that can lead to further employment or training.

Better support for employers. Smaller businesses should have access to straightforward funding, role templates, onboarding support and guidance that makes recruiting young people easier.

Recognition of skills gained outside formal education. Young people need ways to demonstrate reliability, communication, digital capability, teamwork and the skills they have developed through projects and other experiences. Evidence of achievement can help employers see potential beyond a CV.

Flexible pathways for different needs. Not every young person will be ready for the same hours, environment or level of responsibility. Predictable schedules, appropriate adjustments, coaching and remote or hybrid opportunities where suitable can make participation more accessible.

A clearer connection between earning and learning. Work opportunities should help young people build skills, gain recognition for what they have learned and understand their next steps towards sustained employment.

The full review should help establish how these ambitions can be delivered at scale. But we do not need to wait for every recommendation before making progress.

Conclusion: Don't wait for young people to become unemployed for six months

The UK needs a more effective pathway from education into employment.

The Youth Jobs Grant is a positive step towards helping employers recruit young people who have been out of work for some time. The forthcoming publication of the Milburn Review provides an opportunity to consider how the wider system can work better.

But neither should distract us from the need to act earlier.

Young people need accessible, paid opportunities to develop skills, build confidence and demonstrate their potential before months of unemployment make the transition into work harder.

We need to help employers create those opportunities without unnecessary cost or complexity. We need to make work experience financially accessible. And we need to recognise that a first job, a short project or a paid work taster can be the beginning of a much longer journey.

At MyPocketSkill, we see the value of that first step every day.

When young people earn, they gain independence. When they gain experience, they build confidence. And when they can demonstrate their skills, they have more ways to move forward.

The question is not simply how we help young people after six months of unemployment. It is how we stop so many of them reaching that point in the first place.

We should not wait for young people to become long-term unemployed before making it easier for them to get started.

Matthew Harker
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, MyPocketSkill

For more info about our work on upskilling and financial education contact PR@mypocketskill.com