'Being squeezed out of jobs by migrants' young million Brits left idle while number of non-EU workers soars by 315%
26-Aug-2025.
Nearly one million young Brits have been left idle while the number of non-EU workers has soared by 315 per cent, a new study has found.
Under-25s were being 'squeezed out of the job market' by a combination of mass migration, rising payroll taxes and surging benefit awards, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) said.
A total of 987,000 16–24-year-olds - equivalent to more than one in eight - were categorised as NEETs (not in education, employment or training) in the year to December, an increase of 877,000 on the previous year.
The CSJ found this rise had been exacerbated by a fall of 49,000 in the number of young Britons on company payrolls between January 2020 and December 2024.
By contrast, the number of young non-EU migrants employed by British businesses soared by 258,000.
The widening gulf in employment patterns is partly explained by UK employers opting for immigrants, while thousands of British young people claim out of work benefits for conditions such as anxiety and depression, the CSJ report, Wasted Youth, claimed.
The number of NEETs citing ill health has increased by half since 2019.
And of the 250,000 NEETs inactive due to sickness, 62 per cent reported mental or emotional difficulties and half cognitive difficulties, with the two overlapping in over a quarter of cases.
he CSJ, which was founded by former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith, called for an overhaul in the approach, shifting away from 'uncontrolled mass migration' to focus on getting British youngsters into work.
It proposed a new 'Future Workforce Credit' to incentivise the hiring of NEETs. This would pay employers 30 per cent of their, half upfront and half after six months of continuous employment.
A cross-party group backing the proposal included Lord David Blunkett, former Labour Secretary of State for Education and Employment.
'The last Labour Government's New Deal for Young People proved that with the right approach we can take young people away from a life on benefits and into the world of work, growing the economy and transforming lives at the same time,' he said.
'I welcome this plan from the Centre for Social Justice, in particular the proposed Future Workforce Credit to help employers hire and upskill a new generation of talent. This is how we stop hundreds of thousands being written off and get Britain working again.'
Sir Jeremy Hunt, former Chancellor of the Exchequer under Rishi Sunak, said: 'This is an important and timely report. The sharp rise in economic inactivity among young people is one of the biggest structural threats to our long-term growth and public finances.
'The Centre for Social Justice has set out a serious plan to get Britain's young people back to work. I strongly support the principle behind the Future Workforce Credit and their proposals to reform mental health benefits.
'Given the soaring cost of hiring, ministers must take bold action this Autumn to support businesses and help more British youngsters reap all of the benefits that come with a job. The future of our economy depends on it.'
