Under-16 social media ban from spring 2027: UK hires 1,000 youth workers and puts £450m into teenagers

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced overnight on 26 September that the government will fund the training and employment of 1,000 new youth workers — specialists working with young people aged 11 and over outside home and school: in youth centres, clubs and through street outreach. The first workers are due in place by spring 2027. Ministers call it the largest investment in youth services in a generation.

The same announcement carries two more things that matter directly to families: a £450 million fund to build and improve youth spaces, and a confirmed timetable for the social media ban for under-16s — the first regulations will be laid before the end of this year, with the ban expected to take effect in spring 2027.

What exactly was announced?

The state will pay for the training and employment of 1,000 youth workers. It is a response to a figure the release quotes from YMCA research: between 2010 and 2023, local authority spending on youth services fell by 73%, closing clubs and cutting jobs across England.

The new specialists will work with young people aged 11 plus in community spaces and through outreach, focusing on those at highest risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). They will work alongside teams from education, health and crime prevention, offering sport, arts and mentoring.

What is the £450 million fund?

The new Youth Matters Fund will open for applications soon. The money will pay for building, renovating and expanding youth spaces, buying equipment and funding the activities themselves — sport, music, volunteering. The stated goal is to halve the gap in access to enriching activities between disadvantaged young people and their peers.

One thing to understand: organisations, not families, will apply to the fund. For a parent it means one thing — over the next few years there should be more free clubs and activities nearby, especially in less well-off areas.

When will social media be banned for under-16s?

In the notes to the release the government restated its plan: social media will be closed to children under 16. The first set of regulations will be laid before Parliament before the end of 2026, and the ban is expected to come into force in spring 2027. In parallel, certain risky features on other online services — livestreaming and strangers being able to contact children — will be restricted for everyone under 18.

The precise rules — which platforms fall under the ban and how age will be checked — will become clear when the regulations are laid. We will cover them separately once the text is out.

What is already running for teenagers?

The announcement is part of the Youth Matters national youth strategy launched in December 2025, worth over £500 million in total. The same programme includes 50 Young Futures Hubs for ages 10–18, bringing help with the main teenage problems under one roof; the £132 million Every Child Can programme; the £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme funding activities in and around 400 schools; and a £10 million partnership with the King’s Trust. The overall ambition is for 500,000 more young people to have a trusted adult by 2035.

If your child has special educational needs, see our guide from yesterday: SEND in an English school — how to get support. Young people with SEND are, on the government’s own figures, about 80% more likely to end up NEET.

What is there for 18-to-24-year-olds?

Young adults are covered by the Youth Guarantee — an £820 million programme promising everyone aged 18 to 24 access to education, training, an apprenticeship or help finding a job. The place to start is Jobcentre Plus. The government’s free CV builder can produce your first British CV — we covered it step by step: Work Hub and the free CV builder.

What should a parent do right now?

There is nothing to apply for yet: the first youth workers arrive by spring 2027, and the fund has not opened for applications. What makes sense today: ask the school and the local council what free clubs and activities already exist nearby; if your teenager is 16–18 and not in education or work, go to Jobcentre Plus without waiting for new programmes; and pencil spring 2027 into family plans — the point when younger teenagers’ social media accounts stop being legal.