Key facts
- The Guardian said almost a million young people in Britain, one in eight, are struggling to move from school to work on a lasting basis.
- The newspaper said the eight participants range in age from 20 to 26 and come from across the country.
- Milburn estimates the cost of Britain's youth jobs crisis at £125bn a year, according to the Guardian.
- The Guardian said Milburn will call on ministers to shake up the benefits system and ramp up employment, education and health policy changes.
- The Guardian said Andy Burnham's government is pushing to tackle the rise in 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training.
- The Guardian said those who reach 24 without ever having worked stand to lose up to £300,000 in lifetime earnings.
The Guardian said on November 14, 2026, that it is launching a series following eight young people, aged 20 to 26, as they try to move from education into lasting work across Britain. The newspaper said the series runs before the final official report by Alan Milburn into young people and work, which it said is expected on Tuesday.
The Guardian said almost a million young people in Britain, one in eight, are struggling to make the leap from school to work on a lasting basis. It said the eight participants come from across the country, range in age from 20 to 26, and include people on universal credit, some with a small amount of insecure work and none with meaningful work on a sustainable basis.
The newspaper said Milburn will warn of a structural failure by the market and the state and will call on ministers to shake up the benefits system while ramping up employment, alongside education and health policy changes. It said he estimates the cost of Britain's youth jobs crisis at £125bn a year.
The Guardian said Andy Burnham's government is pushing to tackle the rise in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training to the highest level in a decade. It said the government's aim is to boost Britain's economy and ease pressure on the public finances from a rising benefits bill.
The newspaper said those who reach the age of 24 without ever having worked stand to lose up to £300,000 in earnings over their lifetime, even if they re-enter the jobs market successfully. It quoted Frances, 25, from London, saying she feels "unbelievable guilt" and cannot get seasonal work, and Alice, 24, from Bristol, describing sleepless nights and crying.