Young people and work – five inclusion issues highlighted in the Milburn review

Young people and work:
Five inclusion issues highlighted in the Milburn review

By Jo Faragher on 16 June 2026

Last month saw the publication of the first part of the Young People and Work Review by former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn. The report was commissioned by the UK Department for Work and Pensions in December in a bid to investigate record high numbers of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). By 2031, it has been estimated that as many as 1.25 million 16 to 24-year-olds could be in this position.

According to Milburn’s report, around 63% of young people were in work at the turn of the century; now that figure is around 50%. The youth unemployment rate is around 16%, compared to the overall unemployment rate of 5%. There are multiple negative impacts: a lack of exposure to the workplace meaning young people lack experience when applying for jobs; the effects on their mental health and confidence; and the broader cost to the economy of having a huge tranche of people who have nothing to spend and who are not paying tax into the public purse.

This is not an issue D&I teams can ignore – here are five inclusion issues raised by the Milburn review.

1. Social mobility

The review estimates that the cumulative annual cost of youth inactivity is around £125 billion – more than the country spends on education. The proportion of Neets who have never had a single job sits at 60%. Emma Hughes, partner and head of HR services at law firm Browne Jacobson, says the report shines a light on an issue many professionals will recognise but may have been unwilling to confront. “The finding that the most consistent complaint from young applicants is not rejection but silence is a damning indictment of how some employers are managing that experience,” she says.

This can mean that the young people who do succeed in the labour market are those whose families can open doors for them. “That raises important questions not only about youth employment, but about social mobility and fairness more broadly,” she adds. “There is an uncomfortable contradiction at the heart of this. Employers frequently talk about skills shortages and difficulties attracting talent, yet many recruitment processes are designed in ways that exclude candidates with potential simply because they lack prior experience. The employers that build relationships with young people before they are job-ready will be better placed in a labour market that is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate – for young people and businesses alike.”

2. Mental health

The Society of Occupational Medicine points out that 57% of NEETs have an underlying health condition, while one in five have a mental health problem. Professor Neil Greenberg, SOM president, believes the review is a “vital wake-up call” for employers and that the system is failing young people, rather than young people lacking ambition. “Good work is beneficial for mental health, but we need the right support systems in place to help young people stay in work and thrive,” he says.

Vicky Walker, chief people officer at Westfield Health, agrees that many of the forces driving youth unemployment are “deeply rooted and systemic”. “This isn’t a problem employers alone can solve, but the report identifies health, and particularly mental health, as the primary and fastest growing driver, so workplace wellbeing can have a real impact here,” she says. “Employers see their people every day, making them better placed than most to notice when someone is struggling, and better placed than most to do something about it early. This early intervention can be beneficial both for the employee and the business in equal measure.”

Employing and retaining young people can add to the long-term health of a business, she adds, but must go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. “When we asked 18 to 24-year-olds what benefits they’d value most, gym access, health check-ups and personal mental health days came out on top,” she says. “Perhaps less predictably, they were also more likely than any other age group in our research to value online therapy apps and neurodiversity support – a reminder that younger workers have a distinct set of health priorities, and that understanding those differences is where effective benefits design starts.”

3. Disability and special educational needs

The national average for people with a learning disability in paid employment is less than 4%, and the disabled NEET rate has almost doubled since 2011. Furthermore, young people on an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) are 80% more likely to be NEET. “There are hundreds of thousands of young people who want to work, who are capable of work, but who describe, almost without exception, systems that were not built for them,” explains Kirsty Matthews, CEO of DFN Project Search, which runs supported internships aimed at helping young people with a learning disability and/or those who are autistic into work.

The report identifies supported internships as one of the few structured pathways specifically designed for young people with EHCPs, and as an example of genuine good practice, she adds, but many cannot access placements near where they live. “Young people with a learning disability, who are autistic or both gaining confidence, skills and independence, and moving into sustainable employment,” she says. “Our programmes demonstrate what is possible when young disabled people are given the right support, and when employers are helped to benefit from their talent. While we await Alan Milburn’s final conclusions and recommendations, we will continue to work closely with the review team, the DWP and DfE to encourage a significant expansion of funded supported internship places. Every young person with a learning disability who wants to work should have a clear, supported pathway into meaningful paid employment.”

4. The role of early careers collaboration

Expanding routes into work for young people could make all the difference to the youth employment landscape in the future. Apprenticeships form an important part of that strategy, but a wider shift towards focusing on potential over experience will help in the longer term, says Sarah Gray, director of HR at software company Cintra. At Cintra, entry-level roles focus on attitude, aptitude and cultural fit alongside experience, she explains: “We believe it’s essential to look beyond any single pathway into employment. We’re also strong advocates of internal progression, meaning many of our external opportunities are at entry level, giving people a clear pathway to grow their careers with us.”

At facilities management company OCS, supporting young people is viewed as a societal responsibility as well as an opportunity for businesses to play a more active role. “Like many employers, we have been following the recent coverage around youth unemployment and the challenges highlighted. It rightly brings into focus the growing disconnect for some young people between education and access to meaningful work, alongside the risk of a generation feeling excluded from opportunity,” says chief people officer Sarah Williams. “Addressing youth unemployment will require collective action across education, employers and government. As a business, we are determined to play our part by providing accessible, supported and high-quality routes into the world of work, ensuring no potential is overlooked.”

5. The future impact of AI

The challenges facing young people trying to get into the labour market are well-known – from a lack of suitable vacancies, increases in the national minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions making employers more cautious, and a lack of exposure to work experience compared to previous generations. But at the same time, the increasing onslaught of AI and its impact on jobs cannot be ignored. AI has often been blamed for “erasing” school-leaver and graduate jobs as it can take on basic, repetitive tasks that might once have been the preserve of junior employees.

Alan Price, CEO of BrightHR, says employers must be just as mindful of how AI will reshape their organisation as the broader societal issues affecting the labour market. “Young people have a unique set of skills, fresh ideas and energy that add value to the workplace, especially technical skills,” he says. “The Milburn report highlights that young people are keen to work, so it’s vital that opportunities are available for them. Recent legislative changes and advances in AI have created almost a perfect storm. It will be interesting to see the recommendations from the Milburn review once the second part is released later this year.”