UK's anxious generation' of young people struggling to adapt to workplace

Almost one million 16- to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment, or training. Rising mental ill-health, anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity are described as central drivers of high economic inactivity. The review is expected to link social media use to worsening mental health and functional impairment, including changes to sleep patterns and concentration. The work system is said to trap people in worklessness rather than enabling entry into work. More than half of young people classified as Neets have never worked. A quarter are unable to work due to long-term sickness or disability, and a large share cite mental health problems as the primary reason.

"Alan Milburn, a former Labour health secretary, will say this week in a report that businesses must adapt by offering more flexibility and mental health support for young people to stave off an economic catastrophe. In November last year, Milburn, who served in various government roles under Tony Blair, was asked by prime minister Keir Starmer to examine why almost 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds about one in eight were not in education, employment or training."

"According to the Times, it will say that a rising tide of mental ill-health, anxiety, depression [and] neurodiversity is a central driver of high economic inactivity among young people. The review is also expected to address the rising influence of social media on the mental health of young adults, with Milburn asserting that their brains have been rewired by smartphones. The system is trapping people in worklessness rather than enabling them into work, Milburn told the Times."

"We're at a risk of just writing a whole generation off. This is a bedroom generation. They are sort of living in their bedrooms. They are on all the time, they're never off. [Social media] is leading to some evidence of functional impairment, changing their sleep patterns, concentration levels. That is having an impact on their ability to work. They are not snowflakes. People say it's a soft generation. My view unequivocally is that it isn't. It is an anxious generation."

"More than half of the UK's 946,000 Neets have never worked, and a quarter are classed as unable to work due to a long-term sickness or disability. Of these, 43% say that mental health problems are the primary reason they are unable to work, up from 24% in 2011. The government said last year that the proportion of Neets in the UK is significantly higher than"

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