UK charity Education & Employers is calling for urgent action to prevent a ‘lost generation youth unemployment crisis’ now taking hold in the UK. ONS figures show nearly 1 million (987,000) young people are not in education or employment (NEET) the highest in over a decade.

The call coincides with the OECD’s release of The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation, a major report surveying 700,000 15-year-olds across 80 countries. It highlights a global mismatch between young people’s career aspirations and future job markets. In the UK, 46.4% of young people are uncertain about their career options up from 24.6% in 2018 — placing the UK among the worst-rated countries.