A MILLION young people are set to be out of work or education for the first time in more than a decade, a study says.
Ministers are now under pressure to abandon plans to raise minimum wage levels for the under-21s to get youngsters back into the workplace.
The Resolution Foundation warned the government should change course to stop young people being “priced out of entry into the labour market”.
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves saying last year the different wage rates were “discriminatory”.
Figures show that the total of 16-24 year-olds so-called NEETs has increased by 195,000 in the past two years to reach 940,000 and is set to hit one million.
The figure hit 1.2 million in 2012 in the aftermath of the financial crisis some four years earlier.
The rise has been due to sickness and disability which now accounts for one in four Neets.
The Resolution Foundation says the young are becoming “increasingly detached” from the workplace.
Sixty per cent have NEVER worked, which compares to 42 per cent back in 2005.
Louise Murphy, from the think tank, said: “The number of young people who are neither earning nor learning has risen sharply in recent years and is now nearing one million.
“The biggest factor driving this increase is workless young people reporting a disability or ill-health.
“This has doubled over the past 20 years and now affects over one in four young people not in education, employment or training.”
It comes as a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation found businesses are demanding more government spending aimed at getting young people into the workplace.
Financial incentives such as wage subsidies or tax credits for businesses, funded work trials and money to help with issues such as transport or childcare.
A government spokesperson said: “Every young person should have the chance to thrive.
“That’s why we’re delivering our Youth Guarantee so no-one is left behind, and expanding mental health services.”
