Young Brits Living With Parents ‘Less Likely to Work’

Young people living with their parents are less likely to work, according to Labour’s jobs tsar, as nearly one million 16 to 24-year-olds remain outside education and employment.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show 957,000 young people were classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the final quarter of 2025.

That is up from 946,000 in the previous three months and brings the total close to one million.

The warning came from Alan Milburn, who is leading the Government’s review into youth unemployment.

He suggested the rising number of young adults staying in the “house of mum and dad” is partly to blame.

On whether living with parents makes it less likely for young people to try to find work, he told Times Radio:

“It strikes me as yes, and I think we, everybody, talks about the Bank of Mum and Dad as well, isn’t it?

“Sometimes even when kids leave, they boomerang around back.”

Mr Milburn said parents and grandparents fear those in their twenties “maybe are not going to do as well as we’ve done”.

He added: “The first time that’s really happened in a century and that is about the fear of not being able to get a decent job, the fear of not being able to own your own home, all of those things, what social media is doing, the AI revolution to come”.

Youth unemployment currently stands at a record 16.1%.

The wider unemployment rate is 5.2%, its highest level in five years.

Mr Milburn acknowledged that economic policy may also be affecting hiring decisions, particularly for entry-level roles.

He said: “We’ve got to look at these factors. Every time an employer takes on a young person, it’s always a risk because they’re unproven.”

Labour’s increase in employer National Insurance contributions and higher minimum wage rates for younger workers have drawn criticism from business leaders.

From April, the minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise to £10.85 per hour, while the adult rate will increase to £12.71.

The Government has pledged to align the rates into a single adult minimum wage, although reports suggest the move could be delayed due to concerns about youth unemployment.

Conservative business spokesman Andrew Griffith said:

“It is astonishingly complacent of Labour not to care as the number of people not in education or employment heads for one million. A lost generation we can ill afford.”

Suella Braverman, Reform UK’s education and skills spokeswoman, described the figures as a “damning indictment” of policies that have pushed teenagers towards universities that leave them with “crippling debt” rather than vocational routes.

The Resolution Foundation warned Britain is now “perilously close” to NEETs reaching one million for the first time in 13 years.

It said ministers should “pause further alignment of youth minimum wage rates until youth unemployment is falling”.

Separate research from market firm GfK suggests the weaker jobs market is already affecting confidence among younger age groups.

Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said: “With fewer entry-level opportunities available, those on lower incomes are already feeling the strain, and this trend risks undermining the typically more optimistic outlook held by younger age groups.”