NEETs
NEET is an acronym for ‘not in employment, education or training’, used to refer to the situation of many young persons, aged between 15 and 29, in Europe. The aim of the NEET concept is to broaden understanding of the vulnerable status of young people and to better monitor their problematic access to the labour market.
Eurofound provides insights into this topic by tracking NEET trends across the EU, analysing gender differences, and monitoring the effects of crises like the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings support policies such as the Youth Guarantee and highlight the need for more targeted measures for young women and mothers.
Find the latest content on this topic below.
Young people in the Western Balkans
This report analyses data from Eurofound’s 2021 European Working Conditions Telephone Survey and its 2022 Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, as well as data from official statistics, to examine employment trends, working conditions and the social situation of young people in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia). Employment trends are also presented for Türkiye. This report is part of Eurofound’s ongoing effort to support informed policymaking in EU accession countries through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). It is the first output from a project financed by the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) under the auspices of the IPA. Its aim is to provide knowledge that will support better-informed social, employment and work-related policies in the Western Balkans and Türkiye. It offers a comparative perspective between the countries and with the EU based on sound statistical analysis and expert consultation.
Has Europe failed its youth?
In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Eszter Sandor and Massimiliano Mascherini about the situation for young people in Europe, from the impacts of the economic crisis and Great Recession to the aftermath COVID-19 pandemic and voting trends in the recent European Parliament elections.They discuss how, while there have been some positive trends in employment in recent years, there are concerning issues facing young people in Europe that need to be overcome – not just for the young people in question, but also for broader economic and societal stability.Becoming adults: Young people in a post-pandemic world
During the pandemic, many young people had to change their plans for the future. While at the end of 2023 young people’s labour market situation was more favourable than it had been in recent years, many obstacles remained on their route to independence, such as the rising cost of living and inability to move out of the parental home. This report explores young people’s wishes and plans for the future – and the well-being outcomes related to these plans – in the context of the current labour market and housing situation and progress on the implementation of the EU’s reinforced Youth Guarantee.
NEETs emerged as one of the most vulnerable groups following the 2008–2013 Great Recession. Youth unemployment soared above 40% in many EU countries, highlighting how young people are more vulnerable to economic recession than other age groups.
In the EU27, the share of NEETs aged 15–29 peaked at 16.1% in 2013 with some improvement in the subsequent years due to policy measures like the Youth Guarantee. By 2019, the rate had fallen to 12.6%, the lowest point in 10 years.
The COVID-19 pandemic and related economic restrictions have contributed to an increase in the NEETs rate to 13.8% in 2020, as a result of job loss and barriers to education and training for young people. The rate of NEETs has been steadily declining since 2021 and reached an all-time low of 11.2% in 2023. Furthermore, the proportion of discouraged workers among the NEET population is also at its lowest recorded level.
The NEETs rate for young women aged 15–29 in the EU stood at 15.5% in 2020 and remains higher at 12.5% in 2023 than the rate of 10.1% for young men. The share is higher for young women in almost all Member States.
In many countries, young mothers are now more likely to be NEET than young men, with family responsibilities the biggest reason for being NEET. However, EU policy measures specifically aimed at young mothers or young women more generally are scarce. Increased emphasis may be needed on the gender dimension of the NEET rate.
Worrying levels of mental well-being are reported among young people in the EU, especially when it comes to feelings of loneliness and depression, where young people are suffering the impact of the pandemic and reduction of social interactions more than the older population.
With Youth Guarantee implementation, the number of NEETs aged 15–29 has decreased, from around 14 million at the height of the 2008–2013 crisis to 9.3 million in 2019 (12.6%), rising during the COVID-19 pandemic and falling again to 8.2 million in 2023 (11.2%). However, Eurofound research estimates the loss to European economies in benefits and forgone earnings and taxes to be significant (€142 billion a year in 2015). This has a major impact on the economic and social development of the EU.
With the situation of young people also exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Eurofound analyses the impact of the crisis on these figures, building on its previous research on youth.
Lowering youth unemployment, and aiming to effectively engage as many of Europe’s young people as possible in the world of work, is at the heart of the EU policy agenda. The 2008–2013 economic crisis led to high levels of youth unemployment and thus disengagement among young people. In light of this, researchers and government officials have sought new ways of monitoring and analysing the prevalence of labour market vulnerability and disengagement among young people.
The NEET concept has been widely used as an indicator to inform youth-oriented policies on employability, education, training and also social inclusion in the EU Member States since 2010.
NEETs were specifically referred to for the first time in European policy discussions in the Europe 2010 flagship initiative ‘Youth on the move’. The age category covered by the term was 15–24 and was later broadened to include those aged 15–29. The concept is now centrally embedded in the policy discourse at EU level. In 2023, 11.2% of the population aged 15–29 were NEETs, which is a historic low. The NEET rate rose during the pandemic to 13.8% in 2020, but has been steadily declining since then.
In April 2013, the European Commission’s proposal to the Council of the European Union to implement a Youth Guarantee in all Member States was adopted. Reducing the number of NEETs is an explicit policy objective of the Youth Guarantee. This initiative aimed to ensure that all young people aged 15–24 receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. The roll-out of the Youth Guarantee across Member States, via the Youth Employment Initiative, has contributed to improving the situation on the ground, reducing the number of NEETs.
In December 2016, the Commission launched the initiative 'Investing in Europe's Youth', a renewed effort to support young people. Given the positive impact of the Youth Guarantee up to that point, the Commission increased the finances available for the Youth Employment Initiative until 2020 to encourage more effective outreach to young people.
A new EU Youth Strategy was adopted in 2018 and sets out a framework for cooperation with Member States on their youth policies for the period 2019–2027. The strategy focuses on three core areas of action, centred around the words ‘engage, connect, empower’. Meanwhile, COVID-19 had a grave impact on apprenticeships and training. To aid the economic recovery from the pandemic, on 1 July 2020 the new Commission launched a Youth Employment Support package to provide a ‘bridge to jobs’ for the next generation. The Commission put forward a proposal for a Council Recommendation on ‘A Bridge to Jobs – Reinforcing the Youth Guarantee’, to replace the 2013 Recommendation. It extends the age range covered by the Youth Guarantee from age 24 to 29.
The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, proposed by the European Commission in March 2021 and followed by a declaration at the Porto Social Summit in May 2021, introduced new, ambitious targets for young people, such as reducing the rate of NEETs in the EU to 9% by 2030.
European Commission: The reinforced Youth Guaranteeopens in new tab
EUR-Lex: Communication on Investing in Europe's Youthopens in new tab
European Commission: EU Youth Strategyopens in new tab
EUR-Lex: Youth Employment Support: A bridge to jobs for the next generationopens in new tab
European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Planopens in new tab
This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.
21 May 2024
Becoming adults: Young people in a post-pandemic world
During the pandemic, many young people had to change their plans for the future. While at the end of 2023 young people’s labour market situation was more favourable than it had been in recent years, many obstacles remained on their route to independence, such as the rising cost of living and inability to move out of the parental home. This report explores young people’s wishes and plans for the future – and the well-being outcomes related to these plans – in the context of the current labour market and housing situation and progress on the implementation of the EU’s reinforced Youth Guarantee.
9 November 2021
Impact of COVID-19 on young people in the EU
Following a long recovery from the economic crisis (2007–2013), young people in the EU proved to be more vulnerable to the effects of the restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people were more likely than older groups to experience job loss, financial insecurity and mental health problems. They reported reduced life satisfaction and mental well-being associated with the stay-at-home requirements and school closures. While governments responded quickly to the pandemic, most efforts to mitigate the effects of restrictions were temporary measures aimed at preventing job loss and keeping young people in education. This report explores the effects of the pandemic on young people, particularly in terms of their employment, well-being and trust in institutions, and assesses the various policy measures introduced to alleviate these effects.
9 May 2021
Living, working and COVID-19 (Update April 2021): Mental health and trust decline across EU as pandemic enters another year
The third round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded in February and March 2021, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe following nearly a full year of living with COVID-19 restrictions. This report analyses the main findings and tracks ongoing developments and trends across the 27 EU Member States since the survey was first launched in April 2020. It pinpoints issues that have surfaced over the course of the pandemic, such as increased job insecurity due to the threat of job loss, decline in mental well-being levels, erosion of recent gains in gender equality, fall in trust levels vis-à-vis institutions, deterioration of work–life balance and growth of vaccine hesitancy. The results of the survey highlight the need for a holistic approach to support all the groups hit hard by the crisis in order to prevent them from falling further behind.
23 October 2020
Youth in a time of COVID
14 December 2017
Long-term unemployed youth: Characteristics and policy responses
While the youth labour market has improved considerably since 2014, one legacy of the recent economic crisis is the large cohort of long-term unemployed young people, which represents nearly one-third of jobless young people. This report provides an updated profile of the youth labour market in 2016 and describes trends over the past decade. It explores the determinants of long-term unemployment, at both sociodemographic and macroeconomic levels. It also provides evidence on the serious consequences for young people of spending a protracted time in unemployment, such as scarring effects on income and occupation and on several dimensions of young people’s well-being. The report concludes with a discussion of selected policy measures recently implemented by 10 Member States in order to prevent young people from becoming long-term unemployed or, if they are in such circumstances, to integrate them into the labour market or education.
4 July 2016
Exploring the diversity of NEETs
The concept of NEET (young people not in employment, education or training) has, since 2010, been widely used as a tool to inform youth-oriented policies in the 28 Member States of the European Union. While it has been a valuable addition to more traditional indicators used to understand the economic and social vulnerability of young people and their labour market participation, it has often been criticised because of the heterogeneity of the population it captures. This report explores the diversity of NEETs and suggests seven subgroups into which the NEET population can be disaggregated using data routinely collected for the EU Labour Force Survey. Through analysis of the data for each of these subgroups, it offers a contemporary overview of the composition of the NEET population, both at EU28 level and in each Member State. It is hoped this information will help policymakers more precisely target interventions intended to ease young people’s engagement with the world of work and training. A separate annex presents detailed information on the composition of NEETs in the 28 Member States.
Researchers at Eurofound provide expert insights and can be contacted for questions or media requests.
Eszter Sándor
Senior research managerEszter Sandor is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She has extensive experience in survey management, including questionnaire design and scripting, data preparation (processing, cleaning, weighting), and statistical analysis using R. She manages Eurofound’s e-survey (Living and working in the EU) and contributes to the preparation and management of the European Quality of Life Survey. Her research focuses on the quality of life of young people and families, including subjective well-being, mental well-being and living conditions.
Before joining Eurofound, she worked as an economic consultant in Scotland, specialising in economic impact assessments, evaluations, and input-output analysis. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Budapest University of Economics and Business and a Master’s degree in Economics and International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest.
Massimiliano Mascherini
Head of UnitMassimiliano Mascherini is Head of the Social Policies unit at Eurofound since October 2019. He joined Eurofound in 2009 as a research manager, designing and coordinating projects on youth employment, NEETs and gender equality. In 2017, he became a senior research manager and spearheaded new research on monitoring convergence in the EU. In addition, he led the conceptualisation of the 2026 European Quality of Life Survey. In 2025, he was awarded the Brendan Walsh prize for the best paper published in Economic and Social Review. Previously, he was scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. He studied at the University of Florence, where he majored in actuarial and statistical sciences and attained a PhD in Applied Statistics. In 2014, he obtained a scientific qualification as Associate Professor of Social Statistics and Demography from the Italian Ministry of University and Research. He has been visiting fellow at the University of Sydney and at Aalborg University and visiting professor at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
This section provides access to all content that has been published on the topic.
