Just under one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training – or “Neet” – according to data published ahead of a major report about a “lost generation”.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were Neet between April and June. That is about one in eight people in that age group.

The final instalment of a major report by former minister Alan Milburn is expected to set out recommendations for tackling the problem in the coming weeks.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told the BBC ministers would “take those [recommendations] forward”.

The new data suggests the number of young people who are Neet has fallen compared to the first three months of the year, when it was over one million, or 13.5% of the total population of people aged 16 to 24.

But it has risen by 3% compared to the same period last year, when it was 951,000 young people.

The estimates are based on information from a sample of households. The ONS says looking at a smaller subset, like Neets, leads to more “variability” – which can explain small changes from quarter to quarter and means it is best to look at long-term, rather than short-term, changes.

Asia Mason, 22, from London, says she spent more than two years applying for jobs before she finally secured her first role in the NHS.

After leaving college with a health and social care qualification, Mason hoped to work in maternity. She applied for more than 30 jobs but was repeatedly told she lacked experience.

“I remember thinking, ‘How am I supposed to get experience if nobody is willing to give me the opportunity to gain it?'” she says.

She ended up securing her first NHS role after completing a social care programme run by The King’s Trust charity, which helped her gain experience and confidence.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the UK labour market was “in a robust position” but there had been “a long-term challenge for young people”.

He said he was “looking forward” to recommendations on how to tackle the issue from Milburn.

“We’ll have proposals, legislation, if necessary, to take those forward,” he said.

McFadden spoke to the BBC during a visit to Boots in Nottingham, where young people had started jobs in a pilot of the government’s Jobs Guarantee scheme.

Over the next three years, it aims to support 90,000 young people who have been claiming Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months. It funds 25 hours of paid work every week for half a year.

McFadden said there were also plans for 300,000 more work experience placements and 50,000 more youth apprenticeship starts, adding that the government had already rolled out £3,000 hiring incentives for employers who take on young people who have been out of work for six months.

But shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately criticised the government’s policies, claiming Labour had “destroyed job opportunities for young people” through increased taxes, such as employer National Insurance contributions.

For the Liberal Democrats, Munira Wilson said the sheer number of Neets represented a “generational betrayal”, and said the government needed to make it “more attractive for businesses to take on apprentices, boosting the number of degree apprenticeships, and crucially, reversing Labour’s damaging job tax”.

The rise in the number of Neets between April and June compared to the same time last year was largely an increase among men.

An extra 25,000 men were estimated to be Neet, compared to another 4,000 young women.

In May, the first part of Milburn’s report, which was commissioned by the government, said the reasons for the rise in rates among men were “complex”, but could be down to more health issues, the “erosion of traditional employment routes” and “a growing gap in educational outcomes”.

He also said the “Neet problem is grounded in social disadvantage” and highlighted higher rates among certain groups, including young people who:

The report warned that one in six young people would be out of work in five years without action, adding: “We are at risk of a lost generation.”

It said young jobseekers were submitting dozens, sometimes hundreds of applications, but rejections had become the norm.

Last week, analysis by the BBC found that competition for degree apprenticeships in England through the government’s “find an apprenticeship” service, for example, had quadrupled over the past three years.

The second, and final, instalment of Milburn’s report – including recommendations for how to tackle the problems – is expected in the coming weeks.

Additional reporting by Kate McGough, Erica Witherington, Rahib Khan and Miguel Roca-Terry