Ex-Labour adviser urges social media ban and education overhaul to tackle youth joblessness

Peter Hyman, a former adviser to Tony Blair and Keir Starmer, has called for the UK government to ban social media for children under 16 and implement radical education reforms to address the rising number of young people not in education, employment, or training. In a new report titled Inside the Mind of a Young Neet, Hyman argues that the current education system has become a “pipeline” to joblessness, contributing to a “lost generation” of nearly one million young people. The report, co-authored with researcher Shuab Gamote, draws on conversations with more than 400 young people across the UK, highlighting issues including mental health, bullying, and social media addiction.

The UK currently has the third-highest rate of Neet young people among Europe’s richest countries, with the number rising to almost one million, the highest level in more than a decade. The Neet rate for 16- to 24-year-olds peaked at 16.8% in 2012 and has since increased sharply to 12.8%. Hyman stated that close to one million young people are being wrongly classed as “snowflakes” when they are actually being failed by the government and the state. He described the situation as a “national scandal” requiring urgent ministerial action to overhaul a system that traps youth in a “rejection economy”.

Former cabinet minister Alan Milburn is set to publish a separate report next week, warning that the current youth unemployment crisis is a “generational problem” worse than the damage caused by the 2008 financial crisis. Milburn described the situation as a “vortex” where labour market problems and mental health issues are self-reinforcing. He told MPs that while the headline figures may appear smaller than the post-banking crash era, the nature of the problem is more entrenched, fuelled by a health crisis that creates a spiral of disadvantage.

The report identifies a “unique combination of challenges” for workless youth, including poverty, the impact of the pandemic, loneliness, social media addiction, and economic shock. Hyman reported that young people expressed “shocking” levels of vitriol and hatred towards the school system, which he argued focused too heavily on exams while failing to address bullying and mental health. The report highlights a “bedroom generation” suffering from “taught and learned helplessness,” with many feeling unable to gain the experience required for even entry-level jobs.

Young people surveyed are calling for vocational options, more work experience, and greater flexibility from employers. Hyman argued that simply telling young people to “get off your phone” is ineffective without providing youth hubs and real-life social opportunities. “The young people we’ve spoken to crave more social connection and places to go,” he said, emphasising that the government must provide tangible alternatives to the digital isolation many young people currently face.