The organisation said the term Neet is unhelpful and conveys an inaccurate picture of young people’s circumstance, therefore hindering the development of effective and targeted policy.
Youth Labour’s Lost recommends that instead of the Neet label, the government should term those who have finished compulsory education as unemployed, in the same terms as the adult population, because from 2015 the compulsory participation age will have raised to 18.
It also states the need to raise the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds to the full adult rate and compensate employers of the cohort with National Insurance waivers and credits.
Matt Grist, author of the report, said: "The crude and inaccurate Neet measure distracts us from the specific barriers that prevent young people successfully entering the jobs market. One so-called Neet might be a university graduate who is unemployed, another an 18-year-old on a gap year and another a 16-year-old who left school without qualifications and needs one-to-one support.
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