Government should stop measuring the number of 16-24 year olds Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) according to a report published tomorrow by the think-tank Demos.

The term NEET gives an unhelpful and inaccurate picture of young people’s circumstances and adds to social stigma, ‘smothering’ the problem of youth unemployment and hindering the development of effective, targeted policy, the report will warn.

The 979,000 young people who were NEET in the second quarter of 2011 included gap year students, stay-at-home parents, prisoners and university graduates, many of whom do not need specially targeted support in terms of education and training.

The think tank warns that moral panic over NEETs is obscuring the specific difficulties young people are experiencing in preparing for and entering the jobs market.

The think-tank is calling for a ‘new deal’ for young people in 2015 when the compulsory participation age for education will rise to 18.

Rather than stigmatising a massive swathe of young people as NEET the Government should focus on a comprehensive new offer on youth employment – one that combines improved 16-19 vocational education, improved incentives for work and improved job-search support. Charities and voluntary sector organisations should continue to be supported by government to help all young people to enter the labour market.

The report, Youth Labour’s Lost recommended:

Drop the quarterly measure for NEETs altogether. By 2015, young people up to the age of 18 will be legally required to be in full-time education or training and the few who are not should be considered as truanting. Those who have finished compulsory education should simply be classed as ‘unemployed’ or ‘economically inactive’ like the rest of the adult population, and, where appropriate, receive targeted support to get them into work.

Raise the minimum wage for 18-20 year-olds to the full adult rate (currently £6.08 per hour) by 2015. Eighteen year-olds often take on low-status jobs and use them as stepping stones to better employment. To encourage them to take the first steps on such a career path the full minimum wage should be on offer. Timed to coincide with the age-rise for compulsory education, this increase would provide greater financial stability for young people who often find themselves in debt even when they are in work. It could also encourage employers to offer more apprenticeships, which have a lower minimum wage in exchange for training.

Compensate employers for the rise in the minimum wage for 18-20 year-olds with National Insurance waivers and credits. Due to increased revenue from taxation the Government could compensate employers for almost half of the increase in wages for 18-20 year-olds. This measure would continue to give 18-20 year-olds a comparative advantage in the labour market and would be cost-neutral to the state.

Introduce a Work Baccalaureate. Under the umbrella of a WorkBacc certificate with different areas of vocational specialisation, further education institutions should offer coherent two-year curricula that combine core skills in maths and English with occupationally specific skills, transferable work skills, work experience and some academic knowledge. The Work Bacc would certify to employers that a young person has acquired a rounded set of skills.

Offer targeted job-search support earlier. Regular one-to-one job search support is proven to increase the job-finding rate for young people. Earlier introduction to the Work Programme and earlier mandatory weekly meetings at Jobcentre Plus centres are crucial to reducing youth unemployment.

Matt Grist, author of the report, said: “The crude and inaccurate NEET measure distracts us from the specific barriers that prevent young people successfully entering the jobs market. One so-called NEET might be a university graduate who is unemployed, another an 18 year-old on a gap year and another a 16 year-old who left school without qualifications and needs one-to-one support.

“Once we set aside moral panic over an army of NEETs we can start to put together a comprehensive set of policies that will tackle the UK’s very real problem with long-term youth unemployment. The rise in the participation age in 2015 offers the perfect opportunity to do this.”

Jane Slowey, chief executive of the Foyer Federation, said: “Young people are our future. They are not a problem to be “solved” as quickly and as cheaply as possible.

"This report highlights the consequences of labelling young people, of concentrating on what they are not, rather than what they can achieve. If we invest in the talent and aspiration of all our young people, we will all reap the benefits.”

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