The Milburn Review: We cannot allow blind and partially sighted young people to become part of a “lost generation”

This week, Alan Milburn’s review into the growing number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) painted a bleak picture of the future facing many young people across the UK.

More than 1m young people are now classed as NEET. The highest figure in over a decade; with warnings that number could rise even further without action. 

For blind and partially sighted young people, these warning signs are even more concerning. Because, while the review talks about a system failing young people generally, disabled young people have been facing these barriers for decades.

Young people with vision impairment are twice as likely to be NEET as their peers and remain so into adult life. Only 1 in 4 registered blind and partially sighted people of working age are in employment.

At the Royal Society for Blind Children, we see  ambitious, talented, amazing young people unfairly stuck because they either can’t get transportation to work, or didn’t get the right level of support that they should have received years earlier, or were just told to aim lower. We meet young people who have grown up constantly hearing messages that work might not be “for them” or that independence might not be “realistic” or that their ambitions should somehow be “smaller”. 

That is the quiet reality that too many young people in our community still face. And yet, despite all of this, they continue to prove the world wrong. At RSBC Dorton College and through our Futures employability provision, we see extraordinary resilience, creativity and determination every day. Our young people are building exciting careers, gaining qualifications and work experience, travelling independently, speaking publicly, developing leadership skills and shaping their futures that many people once assumed would not be in their reach. We know that with “Just Enough Support” blind and partially sighted young people are unstoppable and a highly valuable addition to the workplace.

The Milburn review rightly warns about the risk of a “lost generation”. But blind and partially sighted young people cannot simply become another footnote in a wider conversation about youth unemployment. Their experiences must shape the solutions. That means properly funded specialist support. Earlier intervention. Accessible apprenticeships, internships and work experience and better transitions into adulthood. Employers need to be willing to challenge outdated assumptions. Education systems should prepare young people for real independence and meaningful employment to live a life without limits.