Blame the schools. Alan Milburn’s report on Neets, published in May, was one of the most damning(谴责性的，导致定罪的) comments on the welfare(进展，过日子) state I have read. It described a new generation of a million mostly poor Britons now encouraged to fare worse, not better, than their parents.(它描述了一代新的英国人——约一百万，大多贫困——如今却被鼓励过得比父母更糟，而不是更好。) This means, said Milburn, that “the great British promise” – the advance of generations – is being broken. A sizeable chunk of the population is going backwards.
要怪就怪学校。艾伦·米尔本（Alan Milburn）5月发布的关于“尼特族”的报告，是我读过的对福利国家最严厉的批评之一。报告描述了一代新的英国人——约一百万，大多贫困——如今却被鼓励过得比父母更糟，而不是更好。米尔本说，这意味着“伟大的英国承诺”——世代的进步——正在被打破。相当大一部分人口正在倒退。
The number of young people not in education, employment or training – one in eight of all 16- to 24-year-olds – is rising fast and will be 1.25 million by 2030. More than 80% of them claim to want to find a job, education or training. A third even have “good GCSEs(普通中等教育证书)”, but 44% of them are on state benefits(领取国家福利), now costing £8.1bn. Many of them suffer from anxiety and other disabilities(残疾，障碍), according to the NHS. The number of young people with special educational needs has doubled in 10 years. Mental ill-health is bordering on(接近，近乎) pandemic levels.
未接受教育、就业或培训的年轻人数量——占所有16至24岁年轻人的八分之一——正在迅速上升，到2030年将达到125万。其中超过80%的人声称想找到工作、接受教育或培训。三分之一的人甚至拥有“良好的普通中等教育证书（GCSE）”，但其中44%的人正在领取国家福利，目前耗资81亿英镑。据英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）称，他们中许多人患有焦虑症和其他残疾。有特殊教育需求的年轻人数量在10年内翻了一番。心理健康问题正接近大流行水平。
The Neets crisis is a gift to politicians. There is always someone else to blame. The most obvious target is Labour’s curiously punitive(惩罚性的) treatment of small businesses and casual(临时的，非正式的) or unskilled jobs. Curbing zero-hours contracts(零时工合同) and proposing first-day job security are measures that seem almost targeted at(针对，以……为目标) keeping Neets out of work.
尼特族危机是政客们的礼物。总有别人可以指责。最明显的目标是工党对小企业和临时或非技术性工作出奇地惩罚性的态度。限制零时工合同和提议首日工作保障等措施，似乎几乎就是针对让尼特族无法就业的。