Mass immigration is directly fuelling the crisis for young people trying to find work, research reveals.

A staggering 27 migrants from outside the EU aged under 25 are hired for every British youngster, according to the analysis. 

And while the young British workforce has grown by less than 1 per cent since 2020, the number of non-EU youth on the UK payroll has increased by 355 per cent in that time, the research from The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found.

Reform UK's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said last night that British workers are 'being pushed to the back of the queue while mass immigration continues'.

He added: 'Young Brits should be first in line for jobs, training and opportunities in their own country, not forced to compete against record levels of imported labour.'

The CSJ think-tank's research shows how young migrants are taking up roles at a much faster rate to young Britons, with them snapping up three times as many jobs as young Britons.

Between 2024 and 2025, the number of non-EU under-25s on payrolls increased by 33,200, while the number of UK-nationals of the same age fell by 32,200.

This is despite almost one million 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK currently not currently in education, employment or training (NEET).

And the research shows that migrants are mostly taking entry-level positions despite Alan Milburn saying today that the first rung of the career ladder is 'simply out of reach' for young Britons after he was commissioned by the Government to review soaring levels of youth unemployment in Britain.

Non-EU workers of all ages nearly doubled in retail and hospitality roles between January 2020 and December 2025 for instance, while UK nationals in such posts fell by more than a quarter of a million.

Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, said: 'Young British people are being locked out of the labour market as immigration into entry-level work continues at scale.

Mass immigration undermines our society and low wage immigration is bad for the economy.

'Labour must go further and reform indefinite leave to remain [ILR] before their hard-Left flank forces them to abandon reform altogether. The window is closing and they know it.

'The next Conservative government will introduce a binding annual immigration cap, close the loopholes that let temporary visa holders stay indefinitely and tighten and extend the conditions for ILR. We want a small number of highly skilled migrants and no low-skilled migration at all. But sadly, Labour do not have the backbone to do any of it.'

And Joe Shalam, policy director at the CSJ, said: 'Starter roles are simply vanishing across the jobs market, made worse of course by rising costs for employers. Protecting Britain from under-cut labour is an essential first step to improving the pay, conditions and training opportunities for British young people.'

The think-tank is now calling on ministers to introduce a tax cut for businesses hiring young people worth 30 per cent of their salary.

It also suggests restricting benefits for young people with less severe mental health conditions and requiring employers to advertise vacancies to the UK workforce before offering roles through work visa schemes.