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Few issues reveal structural inequality more starkly than the persistently high numbers of young people who are neither in education, employment nor training.

Behind every NEET statistic is untapped potential. And too often, layered disadvantage. That is why renewed focus on solutions, including the review led by Alan Milburn, matters. Because this is not simply a labour market issue. It is a mobility issue. A systems issue. And fundamentally, a relationships issue.

Disadvantage compounds

Youth transitions into work are not equally difficult. For some young people, barriers stack:

  • Poverty
  • Poor mental health
  • School exclusion or absence
  • Care experience
  • Low social capital
  • Limited networks
  • Weak access to role models or opportunity pathways

This is exactly what emerging research on the “youth jobs gap” continues to show: those facing multiple forms of disadvantage are often furthest from the labour market. And often least reached by mainstream solutions.

Skills alone do not solve this

Policy responses often focus on qualifications, employability or vacancies. These matter. But evidence suggests social capital matters too. Who young people know, who backs them, who opens doors.

Research from OECD and social mobility research repeatedly show networks and trusted relationships shape labour market outcomes. Opportunity is rarely just about capability. It is often about connection.

Mentoring as labour market infrastructure

This is where mentoring deserves much greater attention. For young people furthest from work, mentoring can provide:

  • Exposure to pathways they may not otherwise see
  • Confidence and identity support
  • Navigation through fragmented systems
  • Access to networks and opportunity
  • A trusted adult championing progression

This is not “soft support.” It is part of how mobility happens. Increasingly, employers understand this too. The move from education into work is relational. And young people with the least social capital often need that relational bridge most.

What this means for One Degree Mentoring

This is central to the work of One Degree Mentoring.

Its model speaks directly to a challenge many labour market interventions struggle with: How do you support young people facing multiple barriers not just into jobs, but towards sustainable futures? Mentoring helps answer that. Not by replacing structural reform. But by making opportunity reachable.

At a time when policymakers are asking whether there should be “no go areas” in tackling youth exclusion, perhaps the bigger challenge is ensuring there are no young people written off as unreachable. Because there are none. And that belief sits at the heart of mentoring.