Economic inactivity of young people aged 16-24: Definition, reasons and potential future focus

Background

This short report explores economic inactivity in 16 to 24 year olds. The aim of the report is to provide a high-level summary of publicly available open data on economic inactivity in this cohort and to explore the possible reasons for this status. In this report we also identify gaps in the existing evidence and consider possible future avenues of research, in order to better understand the links between inactivity and young people’s experiences.

Definition of unemployment and economic inactivity

Under the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition, unemployed people are those who are 16 years and over, without a job, but who have actively been seeking work for the past four weeks and are available to start work in the next fortnight. Additionally, a person can be considered unemployed if they are out of work but have accepted a job and are waiting to start in the next two weeks.

Economic inactivity is different from unemployment. ONS defines economic inactivity as “people not in employment who have not been seeking work within the last 4 weeks and/or are unable to start work within the next 2 weeks”.

In addition to economic inactivity, in this context it is also relevant to define NEET. This categorisation is used in publications describing young people’s participation in education, employment and training and those not in education, employment or training (NEET). Young people defined as NEET are either unemployed or economically inactive.

Annex A provides further insight into key definitions and concepts associated with this paper.