Destinations following the end of compulsory full-time education
Published: 12 September 2023
Data on young people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK who were in education and training, employment or NEET (not in employment, education or training), by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
In 2022, young people aged 16 to 24 years from higher professional backgrounds were the most likely to be in education and training out of all socio-economic backgrounds. People from lower working-class backgrounds were the most likely to be ‘NEET’ (not in employment, education or training).
Social class differences in the percentages of young people in education and training, employment or NEET were similar among young men and women.
Overall, the percentage of people from lower working-class backgrounds who were NEET was highest among the White and Black Caribbean ethnic groups (both 22%), and lowest among the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups (both 10%).
For young people from higher professional backgrounds, those in the Bangladeshi (66%) and Chinese (62%) ethnic groups were most likely to be in education and training out of all ethnic groups. White young people (34%) were least likely to be in education or training, but more likely to be in employment (57%).
Young people with a disability were much less likely to be in employment and much more likely to be NEET than those without a disability, across all socio-economic backgrounds.
By socio-economic background
Visualisation
Percentage of young people aged 16 to 24 years who were in education and training, employment or NEET, by socio-economic background (UK, 2022)
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Data
| Socio-economic background | Employment (%) | Education and training (%) | NEET (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 54.5 | 36.1 | 9.5 |
| Lower professional | 62.3 | 27.6 | 10.1 |
| Intermediate | 56.9 | 32.3 | 10.8 |
| Higher working | 58.9 | 28.4 | 12.7 |
| Lower working | 47.9 | 31.2 | 20.9 |
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By sex
Visualisation
Percentage of young people aged 16 to 24 years in education and training, employment and NEET, by socio-economic background and sex (UK, 2014 to 2022 combined)
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Data
| Socio-economic background | Sex | Employment (%) | Education and training (%) | NEET (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | Men | 53.8 | 36.0 | 10.2 |
| Women | 54.4 | 37.7 | 7.9 | |
| Lower professional | Men | 58.1 | 30.5 | 11.4 |
| Women | 58.3 | 32.1 | 9.6 | |
| Intermediate | Men | 58.6 | 29.5 | 11.9 |
| Women | 59.8 | 28.2 | 11.9 | |
| Higher working | Men | 57.6 | 28.3 | 14.1 |
| Women | 57.6 | 28.1 | 14.2 | |
| Lower working | Men | 48.2 | 30.7 | 21.1 |
| Women | 47.5 | 30.8 | 21.8 |
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By ethnicity
Visualisation
Percentage of young people aged 16 to 24 from lower working-class and higher professional backgrounds in education and training, employment and NEET, by ethnic group (UK, 2014 to 2022 combined)
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Data
| Ethnicity | Socio-economic background | Employment (%) | Education and training (%) | NEET (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | Higher professional | 24.1 | 65.7 | 10.2 |
| Lower working | 35.6 | 49.5 | 14.9 | |
| Chinese | Higher professional | 31.1 | 62.1 | 6.8 |
| Lower working | 28.0 | 62.0 | 10.0 | |
| Indian | Higher professional | 37.2 | 56.5 | 6.3 |
| Lower working | 41.4 | 48.7 | 9.9 | |
| Pakistani | Higher professional | 31.2 | 59.0 | 9.8 |
| Lower working | 32.2 | 48.2 | 19.5 | |
| Black African | Higher professional | 34.6 | 58.2 | 7.2 |
| Lower working | 24.5 | 57.8 | 17.7 | |
| Black Caribean | Higher professional | 40.5 | 49.4 | 10.1 |
| Lower working | 41.3 | 36.8 | 21.9 | |
| White | Higher professional | 56.6 | 34.2 | 9.2 |
| Lower working | 51.2 | 26.5 | 22.3 | |
| Other | Higher professional | 37.0 | 53.7 | 9.3 |
| Lower working | 34.8 | 46.9 | 18.3 |
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By disability status
Visualisation
Percentage of young people aged 16 to 24 years in education and training, employment, and NEET, by socio-economic background and disability (UK, 2014 to 2022 combined)
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Data
| Socio-economic background | Disabled | Employment (%) | Education and training (%) | NEET (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | Yes | 44.7 | 32.3 | 22.9 |
| No | 55.0 | 37.2 | 7.8 | |
| Lower professional | Yes | 39.4 | 31.6 | 29.0 |
| No | 60.5 | 31.2 | 8.3 | |
| Intermediate | Yes | 42.2 | 27.5 | 30.3 |
| No | 61.1 | 29.1 | 9.8 | |
| Higher working | Yes | 34.7 | 26.5 | 38.8 |
| No | 60.3 | 28.4 | 11.3 | |
| Lower working | Yes | 23.6 | 31.5 | 44.9 |
| No | 53.2 | 30.6 | 16.3 |
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For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Time period
- 2022 (By socio-economic background)
- 2014 to 2022 combined (By sex, ethnicity and disability status)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of young people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK who were in education and training, employment or ‘NEET’ (not in employment, education or training).
NEET is defined as not in employment, education or training in the week before the survey.
Socio-economic background is based on the main earner’s occupation when the respondent was aged 14 years. Where there was no earner in the family, SEB is included in the lower working class.
Things you need to know
The data has not been updated since the publication of State of the Nation 2023.
The data used is weighted using the LFS probability weights.
For data by ethnicity, the estimated percentages shown are those for men. We show percentages only for those with lower working-class and higher professional backgrounds for illustrative purposes.
For data by disability status, respondents were asked if they had a health condition or illness lasting 12 months or more, and if that condition reduced their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. This is consistent with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2023 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 28KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Socio-economic background
- Age
- Sex
- Category type
- Category
- Category type2
- Category2
- Value
- Unit
Page history
Publication release date:
12 September 2023