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.