Young Britons Scared for Their Future as Job Hunt Hits Health

"It was a really desperate time," she says. She was paying rent throughout.

She had worked part-time in cafes since the age of 14 and eventually found full-time work in one, which she describes as "very high pressure with terrible hours". She was already feeling unwell and grew steadily sicker.

She quit and moved back in with her parents in Dorset. She says she is now housebound and cannot look after herself.

Celeste had a health assessment for ME/CFS in August this year. She says a formal diagnosis could take three to six months, and that it would open the door to support, including a course on managing her energy.

Her application for a personal independence payment (Pip) has been rejected. She has appealed, but says a decision could take up to a year and a half, and she relies on her parents in the meantime.

A typical day is quiet. Her mother sometimes pushes her in a wheelchair around a nearby forest, where she can draw for about 20 minutes before tiredness stops her. "There must be something I could do," she says of finding work.

Lenny, 26, calls himself a Neet who has experienced work. Neet stands for not in education, employment or training.

He has been unemployed for three years. Before that he spent two years as a customer assistant at a DIY store, then left to take a break for mental health reasons.

He lives with his parents and siblings in Birmingham. He says the process has become less personal: "Years ago, you could go into a shop and hand in your CV." Now, he says, "everything’s online and you end up waiting for them to get back digitally".

Lenny finished college in 2019 with a BTec level 2 in business studies and in music. He did not pass English or Maths GCSE and decided against further education.

Alan Milburn’s review of youth joblessness focuses on Neets aged 16-24. Other bodies, such as the OECD, apply the term up to age 29.