This research paper provides an overview of government policy on young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) across the four UK nations. This paper argues that policy in England on this topic is less well developed and coherent than in the other UK nations, and that the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic will serve to amplify the negative impacts of a set of underlying changes that have been taking place in the youth labour market and in employers’ recruitment and selection practices. In addition, the paper notes that in much of the activity directed at reducing those with NEET status has been funded through the EU’s European Social Fund and that uncertainty now clouds the continuance of these schemes, and that in England government has increasingly relied on the charities to help fill gaps in outreach and provision.

SKOPE Research Paper 130 2021 Ewart Keep and Sue Maguire