Rochdale high up NEETs league

Rochdale has among the highest number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETS) in the country.

A study has suggested that young people face wildly different prospects depending on their home town, with up to one in four out of school, work or training in some areas.

And Rochdale and Oldham fare badly at fifth worst, with 20 per cent classed as NEETS.

Only Grimsby, Doncaster and Warrington and Wigan were worse with almost 25 per cent and Blackpool in fourth with 20 per cent too.

But at the other end of the scale, Oxford, Aberdeen, York, Plymouth and Cambridge all had very low NEET levels of less than 10 per cent.

Time spent as a NEET can damage youngsters’ work skills, make them more likely to turn to crime, leave them facing lower wages in the future, and reduce life expectancy, according to the paper by the Work Foundation for the Private Equity Foundation.

Just under an estimated one million youngsters are considered NEET, according to official figures published in August.

Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive, Private Equity Foundation, said: "This report has highlighted the great disparity in opportunities for young people across Great Britain.

“The fact that nearly a quarter of 16 to 24 year olds are disengaged from education or employment in certain cities is not only shocking but very sad.

“Children from deprived areas urgently need the right support to continue in school, go to college or to get a job.

“To neglect these NEETs, risks a crisis in too many of our communities.”