The numbers are stark. In June, the government reported that almost one million young people aged 16 to 24 are not currently in employment, education or training. And if you look closely at the data, you’ll notice that this increase has been driven by women. In the three-month period before June, the number of so-called “Neets” rose by 24,000; this can be broken down to a 25,000 increase in women, and a 1,000 drop in men.
In total, the Office for National Statistics reports, there are now 450,000 young female “Neets” – that’s the highest number recorded since 2016. So why is this figure on the rise, reversing previous trends? What is holding women back from the workplace, or prompting them to drop out quickly?
