Updated figures show that the Neet population — young people without employment, education, or training — is concentrated heavily in urban and town-based areas throughout England. According to research published by the Centre for Cities, more than one in three of that population is clustered within the country's nine largest urban centres.
Across different parts of the country, the data reveal a threefold gap in how often young people fall into this group, a disparity the study describes as pronounced regional variation. Of the three cities counted, London produced the largest estimate — roughly 117,100 people, or about one in every six across England — while Birmingham accounted for around 45,000 and Manchester for approximately 37,700.
Among individual localities, Blackpool recorded the steepest proportion at 21 per cent, while Doncaster, Bradford, Middlesbrough, and Barnsley each came in at 17 per cent. Among the cities measured, York came in with the smallest share at six per cent, while Nottingham registered eight per cent and Bristol, Brighton, and Portsmouth all landed at nine per cent.
Rob Johnson, a senior analyst at the Centre for Cities, described connecting young people to employment or training pathways as a nationwide obstacle whose outcome would largely be determined by how England's urban centres respond. Birmingham alone recorded roughly 45,000 young people without a place in education or any form of training.
Blackpool, for instance, records a relatively modest total count, yet the share of young residents in this category sits notably above the national picture. The research points toward locally tailored approaches rather than any single uniform policy applied across the board.
The Centre for Cities published a statement putting forward the case that mayors holding direct electoral mandates ought to carry broader powers when tackling the barriers young people face — from building practical skills and accessing vocational pathways through to getting to workplaces and colleges. Government data covering April to June placed the count of 16-to-24-year-olds outside education, employment, and training at around 981,000, down from approximately 1.01 million, yet still hovering just beneath the one-million mark.
Building resilient regional economies ranks among the priorities identified by the research as facing communities today. The study noted that where employment opportunities and training provision are absent, targeted programmes achieve a limited degree of change.
Additional measures addressing youth unemployment in the UK are expected to follow once Alan Milburn's review of the Neet issue reaches publication later this year. The interim report, published earlier this year, set out the former Labour health minister's position that young people were receiving insufficient support and risked long-term reliance on state benefits.
The report identified what it described as a structural imbalance in the existing arrangements, whereby people receiving health-related benefits could access a combination of greater income, reduced administrative burden, and lower financial exposure than employment would typically provide. A number of charities and campaign groups have called on the government to hold back from welfare reforms that would restrict health-related benefit payments to younger recipients only.
