Young people should be kicked off social media and made to do national services to get them off their phones and back into work. Speaking at the launch of a report into what’s driving youth unemployment in the UK, former health secretary Alan Milburn said he was alarmed by the large number of youngsters who don’t get enough kip because they’re busy “doomscrolling” on their phones.
And when responding to a question on whether or not to bring back military and civic national service, told reporters such opportunities could mean “different types of service” inclusive of “volunteering”. The 68-year-old politician also said that increased levels of mental health challenges, such as anxiety, are amongst the reasons young people struggle to get into employment.
He went on to signal that he would back a ban on children’s social media, saying: “We’ve really got to look at that. The government is looking at that.
“If the government hasn’t pronounced on it by the time I come to report in the autumn, I definitely will.”
The government is consulting on a possible ban but has fallen short of saying whether or not the Prime Minister backs one himself.
Mr Milburn warned that an increasing sensation of anxiety within young people was driving them away from work.
He said: “This is an anxious generation for a whole variety of reasons, it’s a world of uncertainty, opportunities are lower, in the way they’re described. They’re living in the digital age.
“I’ve had a small team going around the country talking to these young people, these Neet young people and they do this exercise where they ask them what time did you go to sleep last night?
“2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock, 5 o’clock, sometimes never. This is a generation that are doomscrolling in their bedrooms on their phones.”
The report highlights that nearly half of all young people reporting as NEETs say they have a disability, or a special educational need, preventing them from work.
It’s almost double what it was in 2013/14.