Journal Article

A brute indicator for a NEET case

Serracant, Pau

2014

Overview

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.

• Publisher: Springer,Springer Netherlands,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adults / Age groups / Alternative Approaches / Annual Reports / Arbeitsmarktpolitik / Arbeitsmotivation / Attitudes / Benachteiligtenförderung / Benachteiligter Jugendlicher / Bildungsmotivation / Catalonia / Catalonia, Spain / Education / Educational research / Employment / Generations / Heterogeneity / History, theory and methodology / Human Capital / Human Geography / Indikatorenbildung / Inequality / Jugendpolitik / Katalonien / Konjunkturabhängigkeit / Konzeption / Labelling / Labor markets / Methodology / Microeconomics / Population / Population characteristics / Population studies / Public Health / Qualitative research / Quality of Life Research / Quote / Reasonable accommodation / Research methods / Risk / Social Closure / Social exclusion / Social Indicators / Social Isolation / Social problems and social policy. Social work / Social research / Social Sciences / Sociology / Sociology of the family. Age groups / Soziale Ausgrenzung / Sozialer Indikator / Sozialpolitik / Spain / Spanien / Stigma / Stigmatisierung / Studies / Teenagers / Training / Unemployment / Values / Wahrnehmung / Work Attitudes / Working age population / Young adults / Youth / Youth problems