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A Brute Indicator for a NEET Case: Genesis and Evolution of a Problematic Concept and Results from an Alternative Indicator

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Abstract

This article analyses the Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET ) concept and related indicators and its effects on both youth policies and the perception of young people. It is argued that a “weak version” of social exclusion is often used to explain the phenomenon. This leads both to defective policies (as a “victim blaming” approach tends to be developed instead of structural policies) and to the negative labelling of the NEET young people (as research and policies tend to focus on the individual’s deficits and thus associate them with negative values). An alternative indicator is proposed, aimed at reducing the heterogeneity of the situations the concept includes and focus on the core NEET group. This restricted concept centres on those individuals who do not seem to have any objective impediment to study or work. Figures are calculated for the Spanish region of Catalonia and results show a lower proportion of people in a NEET situation; that the NEET rates for young people and adults are similar; that the phenomenon is not new; and confirm that it is related to the risk of social exclusion. These results reinforce the need for an approach which is more sensitive to inequalities to improve our understanding of the NEET population and to avoid the stigmatisation of individuals, generations and countries.

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Notes

  1. See, for example, Coles et al. (2010), Copps and Keen (2009), Furlong et al. (2012), Pemberton (2008), Robson (2008), Thompson (2011), Eurofund (2011) or the researches of the Department for Education (1999, 2006, 2008 and 2010) and the Social Exclusion Unit (1999) of the British government.

  2. See the aforementioned studies by Coles et al. (2010), Barham et al. (2009), Copps and Keen (2009), Eurofund (2011) and the Social Exclusion Unit (1999); see also Quintini and Martin (2006) and Bynner and Parsons (2002).

  3. This decision enables the results of both indicators to be directly compared and provides an alternative view on the issue. In addition, the LFS is an internationally standardised regular survey with a reliable sample that will facilitate monitoring of the evolution of the indicator.

  4. Nevertheless, the types of situation effectively grasped through the NEET-restricted indicator are probably more delimited than those potentially included. Broadly speaking, it can be argued that within this restricted NEET group there are two opposing types of situations: on the one hand, extreme situations such as having addictions, criminal records, etc.; on the other hand, (former) long-term unemployed people who have lost interest in studying or trying to work but who do not necessarily experience distress or poverty in their situation. However, the situation of the first group of people makes them unlikely to be part of a survey sample (Romaní 2011): qualitative research is needed to identify them and understand their circumstances and needs. Precisely, qualitative research carried out in Spain on the NEET population (Navarrete 2011) found that most of them were in the second type of situation. Nevertheless, it would not be accurate to split the NEET-restricted people into these two separate groups, as there are many in-between situations that form a continuum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, C/Comte Borrell, 51, 2-1, 08015, Barcelona, Spain

    Pau Serracant

  2. Catalan Youth Observatory, Barcelona, Spain

    Pau Serracant

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  1. Pau Serracant
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Correspondence to Pau Serracant.

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Serracant, P. A Brute Indicator for a NEET Case: Genesis and Evolution of a Problematic Concept and Results from an Alternative Indicator. Soc Indic Res 117, 401–419 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0352-5

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