New Timewise analysis finds poor job quality is “key driver” of young people leaving work due to ill health and calls for Youth Guarantee to set job quality standards for participating employers
By Tess Lanning, Director of Programmes
Nearly one million young people in the UK are currently not in education, employment or training – and the numbers leaving work due to mental ill-health are rising sharply. Our new analysis reveals a troubling pattern. The sectors where young people are most concentrated are the same ones seeing the highest rates of workers becoming economically inactive due to long-term sickness.
The evidence is clear
In wholesale and retail, food and accommodation, and health and social care – the sectors employing the most young workers – we’re seeing concerning flows into economic inactivity. In food and accommodation alone, an estimated 17 out of every thousand workers will become economically inactive due to ill health.
This isn’t coincidence. These sectors share common characteristics: low pay and job insecurity. And the evidence increasingly links these working conditions to rising mental distress and economic inactivity among young people.
While most workers experiencing long-term sickness are older, over a quarter are under 40. The concentration of young workers in sectors associated with health problems adds to mounting evidence about the long-term ‘scarring’ effect of poor quality work – particularly job insecurity – on young people’s employment, earnings and health outcomes.
Creating good jobs, not just jobs
The Government’s Youth Guarantee aims to create 350,000 new opportunities for unemployed young people. But our research shows that job creation alone isn’t the solution – we need to focus on job quality.
When workers cycle back into inactivity from frontline sectors, their hours drop dramatically from an average of 21 per week to just 8.5 hours. The economic case for change is compelling: supporting even half of young workers at risk of inactivity to sustain their working hours would generate over half a billion pounds in economic output annually, and provide at least £6,500 in additional wages for each young person.
What needs to happen
Working with the TUC, we’re calling on the Milburn Review (the Independent Report into Young People and Work) to urgently examine how to improve the quality of frontline work through better job design.
The Employment Rights Act offers a vital opportunity to strengthen job security and flexible working rights. But passing legislation is only the first step – we need targeted support for effective implementation in the sectors where young people need it most.
This means working in partnership with employers in wholesale and retail, food and accommodation, and health and social care to redesign jobs that offer young workers stability, security and genuine flexibility. Because when young people have access to good quality work, everyone benefits: workers, employers and the economy.
With thanks to the Trades Union Congress (The TUC) for supporting this research, and to Paul Bivand for the analysis.
Published April 2026
