Britain is at risk of creating a lost generation. Across the country, almost a million young people – one in eight – are struggling to make the leap from school to the world of work on a lasting basis.

Before the landmark Alan Milburn review, which is expected on Tuesday, the Guardian is launching a new series to chronicle the lives of eight young people battling to get a start on the career ladder.

The eight, drawn from across the country, will share their stories of jobseeking in uncertain economic times, after the chaos of the Covid pandemic during their final years of education and with AI now upending the jobs market.

The series comes as Andy Burnham promises to restore hope for the next generation by helping more young people into work, with his government pushing to tackle the rise in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (Neet) to the highest level in a decade.

Each participant in the series will offer reflections on their dealings with employers and the welfare state.

The youngest is 20 and the oldest 26 – just outside the age range used to compile the official statistics, but critical to include as the revolving door on insecure work can have a lasting impact well beyond early adulthood.

The long-term scarring effects from being Neet can be profound. For those who reach the age of 24 without ever having worked, even if they re-enter the jobs market successfully they stand to lose up to £300,000 in earnings over their lifetime as a result.

For many the experience is one of endless job applications, rejection letters and outright ghostings by employers. Exacting a heavy financial and emotional toll, it is a situation made worse in a status-driven social media age.

The toll on mental health is a recurring theme for those feeling as if their adult working lives are yet to start. Many also feel guilt and shame around the fact they are still living at home and relying on parents.

Frances, 25, from London, said: “I feel unbelievable guilt given my academic and general life chances, but I can’t even seem to get seasonal work as a retail assistant or bar worker.”

Alice, 24, from Bristol, said: “There have been a couple of occasions where I’ve not been able to sleep. I’ve cried in the middle of the night and just thought: ‘I don’t want to do any of this.’ Every setback is tricky to pick yourself back up from.”

On Tuesday Milburn will publish his final official report into young people and work. Handing recommendations to the government, the former Labour cabinet minister will warn of a structural failure by the market and the state that has sent the number of young Neets soaring to a million.

Setting out his report as a fork in the road moment for Britain, Milburn will call on ministers to shake up the benefits system while ramping up employment, alongside education and health policy changes to help more young people into work.

In the Guardian project, many of the young people involved are on universal credit. Some have a small amount of insecure work – none have found meaningful work on a sustainable basis.

They have a wide range of educational backgrounds – from one with degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, to another who did not achieve maths or English at GCSE.

Far from the caricature of a workshy, snowflake generation, for most their ambitions are similar to that of their parents and grandparents – wanting to get on in life – but they face a time when living costs are spiralling, getting on the property ladder is tough, and where working hard is no-longer a guaranteed route to prosperity.

Aamir, 25, from London, said: “The universal credit people told me I’d done everything right. You can do everything right and still lose. I feel like the social contract is broken in Britain.”

For Burnham’s government the focus will, however, go beyond reinjecting a sense of hope. By getting more young people into work, the ambition is to boost Britain’s economy and to ease the pressure put on the public finances by a rising benefits bill.

With so many Neet young people, employers miss out on new recruits, and businesses lose out on an army of potential consumers for their goods and services.

For the state, there are big costs attached to a weak economy and the cost of supporting those out of work. Milburn estimates the cost of Britain’s youth jobs crisis amounts to £125bn a year.

But for employers there will also be a need to be change their approach to supporting young jobseekers, particularly for those with health conditions, disabilities or additional needs. For many of our participants, the story is the same time and again: a catch-22 of entry-level jobs demanding experience, and of employers ignoring applicants or making little effort to help new recruits.

Liam, 20, from Exeter, said: “I’ve had interviews, rejections, ghosting, you name it. I’ve had jobs where they let me go after a couple of weeks. It’s just soul-destroying.”