- Alan Milburn, the government’s jobs tsar, has warned that Britain faces an "economic catastrophe" from youth unemployment, with 729,000 young people aged 16 to 24 unemployed and 957,000 considered Neets (not in education, employment, or training).
- Milburn's interim report identifies a "rising tide of mental ill-health, anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity" as the main reason for high economic inactivity among young people.
- He links these issues to growing up in a digital age and extensive social media use, describing a "bedroom generation" whose "rewired" communication and concentration levels are impacting their ability to work.
- The report argues that the welfare state, "built for a different era," must change to prevent a "generational, societal and economic catastrophe" and avoid young people being trapped in worklessness.
- A related report contributing to Milburn's review also highlighted social media as a driver of a "quitting culture" and suggested that the education system, with its focus on exam pressure, has become a "Neet pipeline".
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