Guardian tracks eight young Britons locked out of lasting work

The Guardian is launching a new series charting the job hunt of eight young people from across Britain, aged 20 to 26, all trying to get a foothold on the career ladder. Many are on universal credit and some scrape together small amounts of insecure work, but none has landed anything sustainable. Their stories land just before Alan Milburn publishes his final report into young people and work on Tuesday.

Milburn, a former Labour cabinet minister, will warn that a structural failure by both the market and the state has pushed the number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training to a million — the highest in a decade, or one in eight of the age group. He frames the report as a fork in the road for Britain and will push ministers to shake up the benefits system while ramping up employment, alongside changes to education and health policy. He estimates the crisis costs Britain £125bn a year.

Andy Burnham has promised to restore hope for the next generation by getting more young people into work, with his government targeting the Neet rise. The pitch goes beyond morale: more young people in jobs would lift the economy and ease pressure on the public finances from a growing benefits bill, while businesses currently lose both recruits and potential customers.

The eight come from a wide range of backgrounds, from one holding degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge to another who left school without maths or English GCSE. Frances, 25, from London, said: “I feel unbelievable guilt given my academic and general life chances, but I can’t even seem to get seasonal work as a retail assistant or bar worker.” Alice, 24, from Bristol, described nights she couldn't sleep and cried, thinking: “I don’t want to do any of this.”

Aamir, 25, from London, said universal credit staff told him he'd done everything right. “You can do everything right and still lose. I feel like the social contract is broken in Britain,” he said. Liam, 20, from Exeter, summed up the grind of “interviews, rejections, ghosting, you name it,” adding that jobs he did get let him go after a couple of weeks. “It’s just soul-destroying.”

The scarring runs long: those who hit 24 without ever having worked stand to lose up to £300,000 in lifetime earnings even if they later re-enter the jobs market, according to the report. Participants describe a catch-22 of entry-level roles demanding experience, employers ignoring applicants and little effort to support recruits with health conditions, disabilities or additional needs.