The government’s jobs tsar, Alan Milburn, has warned that Britain faces an “economic catastrophe” due to rising youth unemployment, which he attributes to smartphones “rewiring” young people. Appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as chairman of the Young People and Work Report, Milburn highlighted that hundreds of thousands of 16-24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (Neets).
His interim report, due next week, will identify a “rising tide of mental ill-health, anxiety, depression, neurodiversity” as the main driver of economic inactivity. Speaking to The Times, the former health secretary emphasised that young people “are not snowflakes or faking it”, but that these issues may be linked to growing up in a digital age dominated by social media.
Milburn described a “bedroom generation” of school leavers who spend months or years at home, mostly online. “They are on all the time, they’re never off,” he said, noting that social media is affecting sleep patterns, concentration, and ability to work. The report warns that the welfare state, “built for a different era”, must change to avoid a “generational, societal and economic catastrophe”.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows 729,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed between January and March this year, up 110,000 from last year. The total number of Neets was 957,000 between October and December 2025. A separate report, part of the Milburn review, identified social media as a driver of “quitting culture” among youth, warning that school has become a “Neet pipeline”.
