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One in eight young people in Britain not in work, education or training: ONS

Xinhua, November 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

They are known as Neets, young British people who are not in education, employment or training, and a report Thursday shows their numbers are growing.

A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals there are now 857,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in Britain classed as Neets, representing almost one in eight of their peer group.

Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg described them as the disengaged.

The ONS figures say the number has increased from the total between April and June and is up 3,000 from a year earlier.

Among the 11.9 percent of young people classed as Neet in Britain, 43 percent are looking for work and available for work and classified as unemployed. The remainder is either not looking for work, are not available for work and are classified as economically inactive.

ONS say despite the rise seen in the number of NEETS in 2016, the number has fallen since 2011 when almost 17 percent of 16-to-24 years old were not in education, employment or training.

Of those actively seeking work, around 226,000 are males aged 16 to 24 and 143,000 are females in the same age range.

Organizations and charities have been working hard to help the large number of young people, seen as outside the system.

In a recent commentary in Britain, OECD reported how today's youth have been hit particularly hard and have been struggling to make a successful start to their working lives in very difficult times.

The commentary added that beyond the moral dilemma, the opportunity cost of having large numbers of young people isolated from society runs into billions of U.S. dollars.

One charity working to help Neets is London-based UK Youth, which has recently introduced various schemes for young people.

UK Youth CEO Anna Smee told Xinhua: "Through our innovative programs, apprenticeships and national network of members we support young people through their social development journey to help them get involved, grow and learn and ultimately gain independence."

"Just last month, we launched Money for Life, a three-year program to provide high-quality training and crucial support systems specifically designed to help young people who are Neet," she added.

Over the next three years, Money for Life will deliver community-based and digital peer-education training to over 34,000 16-25 year olds vulnerable to financial exclusion and a further 44,000 young people will receive advice, guidance and support online. Enditem