Search Results (14)

In an era where digitalization shapes economic and social landscapes, the intersection of digital skills, ethics, and integrity plays a crucial role in understanding the vulnerability of youth classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). This study explores how risky internet use and digital skill gaps contribute to socio-economic exclusion, integrating a multivariate and spatial approach to assess regional disparities in Europe. This study adopts a systems thinking perspective to explore digital exclusion as an emergent outcome of multiple interrelated subsystems. The research employs logistic regression, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Promax rotation, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to examine the impact of digital behaviors on NEET status. Using Eurostat data aggregated at the country level for the period (2000–2023) across 28 European countries, this study evaluates 24 digital indicators covering social media usage, instant messaging, daily internet access, data protection awareness, and digital literacy levels. The findings reveal that low digital skills significantly increase the likelihood of being NEET, while excessive social media and internet use show mixed effects depending on socio-economic context. A strong negative correlation between digital security practices and NEET status suggests that youths with a higher awareness of online risks are less prone to socio-economic exclusion. The GIS analysis highlights regional disparities, where countries with limited digital access and lower literacy levels exhibit higher NEET rates. Digital exclusion is not merely a technological issue but a multidimensional socio-economic challenge. To reduce the NEET rate, policies must focus on enhancing digital skills, fostering online security awareness, and addressing regional disparities. Integrating GIS methods allows for the identification of territorial clusters with heightened digital vulnerabilities, guiding targeted interventions for improving youth employability in the digital economy. Full article

The occurrence of criminal activities has the potential to hinder socioeconomic advancement, preventing individuals from investing in human capital and pursuing employment opportunities. Our investigation focuses on the hypothesis that the NEET (not in education, employment, or training) rate is related to crime levels. Through an econometric analysis based on regional data, we examine the impact of crimes against property and against persons on NEET rates within central-northern and southern Italy, while controlling for prevalent determinants of the NEET phenomenon. Our findings reveal that, compared with prevailing discouragement factors such as youth unemployment and lack of interest in tertiary education, crime exerts a more pronounced influence on elevating NEET rates. This effect is particularly evident in the relatively less developed southern regions, where violent crimes, although relatively uncommon, may disproportionately contribute to feelings of apprehension and uncertainty regarding future prospects. Full article

Nowadays, there has been a debate about factors still crucial for the actual definition of adulthood and the role played by uncertainty in employment, the economic crisis, changing cultural contexts, and globalization in the adulthood transition. This study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the self-perception of the transition to adulthood among the Italian NEET (young people not engaged in education, employment, or training). A group of 53 NEETs were asked to assess their transition from adolescence to adulthood by rating themselves on a scale from 1 (=adolescence) to 7 (=adulthood). They were also asked to reflect on the reasons why they felt like adults or not. The qualitative data were coded using the criteria of adulthood attainment proposed by Arnett’s markers of adulthood scale. Analysis showed that the category with the highest frequency was role transition, and almost all the NEETs in this category felt “in-between”. The excerpts portrayed the centrality of work as a crucial factor in self-perception as an adult. The research emphasizes the importance of mixed-methods research to understand where and how people feel about the transition to adulthood, aspects that are difficult to grasp using only quantitative data. Full article

NEET (not in employment, education, or training) unemployment is one of the newer, most relevant, and least studied modern features of the youth labor market, making it an urgent problem to be solved. The purpose of this study is to identify the barriers to creating productive employment in the youth labor market, with a view to reducing the NEET youth segment in Kazakhstan. Our aim is to identify the impact of employment and unemployment parameters in the youth labor market in order to reduce the NEET youth segment in Kazakhstan. The article analyzes the indicators of youth participation in the labor force, defines the features of the youth labor market based on segmentation by age, and identifies the dynamics of youth employment, including the type of economic activity. Particular attention is paid to the NEET youth category in Kazakhstan, providing a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of the youth labor market for the period 2001–2021. The portrait of Kazakhstani youth in the category of NEET unemployment was determined based on an analysis of labor market indicators. Our study identifies the barriers to generating productive youth employment, allowing policymakers to reduce the NEET youth segment in Kazakhstan. Full article

Youth unemployment is a problem that undermines young people’s health and well-being and is also a concern for their immediate communities and society. Human values predict health-related behaviour; however, this relation is very little studied and not examined earlier among NEET (not in employment, education or training) young people. This study aimed to explore the association between four higher-order human values (conservation, openness to change, self-enhancement, self-transcendence), self-rated health (SRH) and subjective well-being (SW) among NEET young men and women (n = 3842) across European regions. Pooled European Social Survey data from 2010–2018 were used. First, we run linear regression analysis stratified by European socio-cultural regions and gender. Then, multilevel analyses by gender with interactions were performed. The results show expected variation in value profiles across genders and regions and corresponding differences in SRH and SW. Significant associations between values and SRH and SW were found among both genders and across the regions; however, the results did not entirely confirm the expectations about the “healthiness” of specific values. More likely, prevailing values in societies, such as the social norm to work, might shape these associations. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors affecting NEETs’ health and well-being. Full article

Young adults in rural areas in many cases have limited educational opportunities. To obtain higher educational qualifications, rural youth often travel long distances. Therefore, many rural youths choose the “shorter” route and complete vocational training closer to home or drop out of their education prematurely. Against this background, this study examines the education policies of European countries and explores the extent to which these problems are addressed within their policy framework and what measures are taken to improve the situation. Using a unique dataset of policies of 31 European countries for the period 2010 to 2020, we examine more than 500 national and subnational policies that address formal and informal education and training. The results show that despite the sometimes high number of rural youths not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) and high early-school-leaving rates, only some countries have developed a respective policy strategy. The analysis presents the different measures implemented in the countries and furthermore shows that a high problem pressure in a country is not necessarily accompanied by a consideration in policy. Prospectively, there is a need for new policies that understand the multidimensionality of the issue and significantly improve the situation of rural youth. Full article

The aim of the present study was to examine macro-determinants of the Not Engaged in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) rate with the country as the unit of analysis. Data from 40 countries were extracted from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) database. Linear mixed models were used to examine associations between the NEET rate and gross domestic product (GDP), population density, life expectancy, social spending, homicide rate, part-time employment, poverty, social inequality (GINI index), and education spending. As part of a sensitivity analysis, the analysis was repeated using open data from the World Bank Group. GDP and social spending were uniquely associated with the NEET rate after controlling for the effects of other factors. Social inequality, poverty, and education spending showed borderline significant associations with the NEET rate. The findings of the present ecological study showed associations between environmentally unfavourable conditions or harshness and the NEET rate at the country level and may inform appropriate policy measures to contain and promote a decrease in the NEET rate. Full article

The transition from education to work in the global economy is no longer a straightforward one-time move for young people. In Bulgaria, this change started with the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy in the 1990s and was accompanied by the arrival of high rates of early school leaving, youth unemployment, and a growing group of disengaged youths (NEETs). The European initiatives in support of youth labour market integration are translated locally, with a narrow focus on “employability” while neglecting the many educational, training, and social needs of young people. The analysis in this paper is informed by the theoretical framework of life course research. It starts with an elaboration of the recontextualisation of EU policies such as the Youth Guarantee in the local realities of socioeconomic structures using Eurostat and national data. Second, we present 4 case studies (selected out of a total of 42 in-depth interviews) of young adults aged 18–30 in order to highlight the ways in which young people’s individual agency filters and influences the institutional policies and practices regulating youth social integration. Our qualitative analysis reveals the multiplicity and diversity of youth journeys into work through the institutions and social structures and the inadequacy of the applied policy measures. Full article

The rates of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) in the Mediterranean European Economic Area (MED EEA) are high. Hence, the European Union and national governments have developed and implemented different policies aimed to tackle the NEET situation. In this article, we try to identify and understand the most relevant barriers that keep vulnerable people as NEETs. We focused on youth as being at the highest risk of becoming NEETs: migrant women aged 25–29. By using semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders and NEETs in the Spanish region of Murcia, we collected their views on and experiences with different programs and strategies. We conclude that this group is exposed to additional barriers due to the intersectionality of their characteristics. There are structural and contextual aspects, such as motherhood, a lack of social networks, or not knowing the language, which NEET policies do not address. We highlight the need of (i) improving the adaptiveness of relevant policies by being tailored to specific problems NEETs face, (ii) expanding the focus of NEET policies, and (iii) including the regional perspective in NEET policy design. In our comprehensive approach, we stress that the NEET policy alone cannot solve the NEET problem. Full article

The position of young people in the labor market is disappointing in most countries worldwide, as shown by the generally scanty labor market indices: high rates of unemployment and NEET (not in education, employment or training), and low activity and employment rates [...] Full article

This paper uses the transition regime concept in a case study of how the regime in England has been reconstructed since the 1980s. It explains how the former transition regime evolved gradually up to the 1970s. Thereafter the regime proved unable to cope with an acceleration of de-industrialisation and the government’s switch to neo-liberal social and economic policies. These changes destroyed many working-class routes into employment. The resultant push onto academic routes, which had the attraction of continuing to lead to jobs, meant that the enlarged numbers exiting the routes could no longer rely on employment that offered secure middle-class futures. The paper explains how the next 30 years became a period of radical regime reconstruction. Government education, training and welfare policies and changes in the economy and occupational structure, were the context in which schools, colleges and higher education institutions, employers and other training providers, together with young people, ‘negotiated’ new routes from points to entry to exits into different classes of employment. At the beginning of the 2020s, the reconstructed regime was delivering the fastest education-to-work transitions in Europe, with lower than average rates of youth unemployment and NEET. Then came the challenges of COVID-19, lockdowns and Brexit. Full article

The research aims at studying and predicting the migration process in Romania over the last 20 years and at identifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyzes several models for estimating migration through linear regression, but also a VAR (Vector autoregression) analysis, as the variables can influence each other. Vector autoregression (VAR) is also used to model multivariate time series, and it can analyze the dynamics of a migration process. Therefore, the best model for forecasting the migration process in Romania is Model 1 of linear regression. This phenomenon generates many positive and negative economic, demographic and political effects. The migration process has become particularly important for Romania in the last 20 years, and its socio-economic, political and cultural effects affect the Romanian state. That is why flexible policies are needed in order to be coherent, to have as main purpose keeping specialists in the country in certain basic economic fields, as well to implement measures to determine the return of specialists and students who have left to study abroad. Full article

NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) youth rates in Europe are generally higher in rural regions than in urban areas and the share in rural regions is constantly increasing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people became even more vulnerable as they experienced social exclusion and mental health problems. The objective of this paper is to analyse NEET youth-related statistics in Europe and distinguish positive initiatives for young people in rural areas of the Baltic countries to encourage positive emotions and willingness to learn. Statistical analysis and case study methods were employed. Data on youth unemployment, NEET youth by age and gender, and poverty and social exclusion of young people, is analysed. Social policy initiatives in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, mainly from rural municipalities, are presented and discussed. This research determines the key issues related to NEET youth and proposes initiatives to overcome existing problems among young people. Such social initiatives aim to promote positive social emotions of youth, promote their inclusion in society, and foster regional sustainability. Full article

Aiming to tackle the high levels of youth unemployment and rates of Not Employed, in Education, or Training (NEET), the European Union launched the flagship policy Youth Guarantee in 2013. In this article we evaluate this policy in order to reveal the lessons it can teach us and possible ways for its improvement to achieve a sustainable active labor market policy. We use the data collected through the Indicator Framework for Monitoring the Youth Guarantee to analyze the policy impact, limited to some of the countries with the highest NEET rates: those of the Mediterranean European Economic Area (Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Spain). We used the data to create regression models for the evaluation of policy measures, spread, and achievements. In our findings we reveal the importance of time in the policy implementation, the differences and commonalities between the countries, and hidden problems in the data collection that lead to biases and misleading results. We conclude that it is too soon to judge the usefulness of the policy and recommend an improvement in the data collection process. Full article