Poor mental health holding back a ‘generation of unfulfilled young people'

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By Aine Fox, Henry Saker-Clark, Sophie Wingate and Storm Newton PA Media

Ill health is holding back a generation of unfulfilled lives, policy experts have said in response to a wide-ranging review.

Youth unemployment is costing the UK about £125 billion a year, according to interim findings from a government-commissioned report. The estimate factors in lost tax revenue alongside higher health and welfare spending.

This comes as a separate analysis has found the number of referrals to children and young people’s mental health services hit a record high in March.

Responding to the review, led by former health secretary Alan Milburn, the Health Foundation said it gave a “devastating but clear-eyed” account of how ill health, inadequate support and lack of opportunity are keeping more than a million young people out of work and education.

It said the findings were linked to a sharp recent rise in the number of young people unable to work because of their mental health.

The Office for National Statistics estimates the number of people aged between 16 and 24 and not in employment, education or training, so-called NEETs, rose to 1.01 million in the three months from January to March.