
Why is youth unemployment in the UK so high?
From The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4
March 26, 2026 · 29 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the high youth unemployment rate in the UK and the factors contributing to it.
It's a tough time for any young person looking for a job at the moment. While overall unemployment is running at just over 5 percent, there’s particular concern about a large group of 16 to 24 year olds - almost a million of them (12.8%) who are not in employment, education or training. And that includes recent graduates in that age bracket. They’re known as NEETS. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss why they're in this situation - is it down to the state of the economy, their own ability to work or that ever present fear - AI? Guests: Jack Kennedy, Senior Economist, Indeed Hiring Lab Lindsay Judge, Research Director, The Resolution Foundation Xiaowei Xu, Senior Research Economist, Institute for Fiscal Studies. John Burn-Murdoch, Chief Data Reporter, The Financial Times Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Engineer: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon
People in this episode
Host: David Aaronovitch
Guests: Jack Kennedy, Lindsay Judge, Xiaowei Xu, John Burn-Murdoch
Topics covered
- youth unemployment
- NEETS
- economy
- job market
- AI impact
Keywords
- youth unemployment
- NEETS
- job market
- UK economy
- AI
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Indeed Hiring Lab, The Resolution Foundation, Institute for Fiscal Studies, The Financial Times
Places: UK
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