UK faces ‘economic catastrophe’ as young people are ‘rewired’ by smartphones, warns government’s jobs tsar
Britain faces an “economic disaster” from youth unemployment as young people are “retooled” by smartphones, the government’s employment tsar has warned.
Alan Milburn was appointed chairman of the Young People and Work Report by Sir Keir Starmer; because hundreds of thousands of children aged 16-24 are not in education, employment or training (Neets).
Its interim report, due to be published next week, will argue that the main reason for high economic inactivity is “increased mental illness, anxiety, depression and neurodiversity”.
To talk Times, The former health minister said young people “are not snowflakes or pretenders” but that the rise of these problems could be linked to growing up on social media in the digital age.
Mr Milburn told the newspaper: “The system condemns people to unemployment rather than encouraging them to work.” “We risk wiping out an entire generation.”
The research also identified a “bedroom generation” in which many 16-year-old school leavers spend months or even years at home, much of it online.
“They are always on, never off,” Mr. Milburn added. “[Social media] It leads to some evidence of functional impairment and altered sleep patterns and concentration levels. This affects their ability to work.
“They’re not snowflakes. People say this is a soft generation. My view is that it’s definitely not. It’s an anxious generation.”
The report is expected to say that the welfare state was “built for a different era and must change now if we are to avoid a generational, social and economic catastrophe”.
The report also notes that young people are “growing up in a digital world that is reshaping the way they communicate, build relationships and manage stress, have less experience in the workplace and are emerging with higher levels of anxiety and depression.”
Mr Milburn’s interim report says that unless the problem is resolved, young people could be stuck on benefits for life, which could impact economic growth.
Between January and March this year, 729,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed; This number is 110,000 more than last year. According to the Office for National Statistics, the total number of young people considered Neet between October and December 2025 was 957,000.
A report published earlier this week, which will form part of the Milburn review, also found social media was a driver of a so-called quit-smoking culture among young people.
It also found that “encouraging success online has led to a culture of quitting if things take time” and warned that schools were becoming a “Neet pipeline” where exam pressure “consumes much of secondary school” and there are no further or higher education opportunities beyond university education.
“The tragedy is that young people have so much potential, many of them do extraordinary things, but their lives are filled with too many obstacles, too much heartache, and too little action,” said Peter Hyman, co-author of Inside the Mind of a Young Neet.
