Young people’s resilience in times of economic crisis: the case of NEETs

Abstract

Recently, particular attention has been devoted to NEETs, young people who are disengaged from both work and education and are at a high risk of labour market and social exclusion. There is a unanimous consensus about the risk factors in becoming NEET. NEET status seems to arise from the interaction of macro-economic, personal and family factors and at the individual level a key determinant in becoming NEET is the level of education. Nevertheless, the recent economic crisis has reduced the positive impact of the level of education on the risk of becoming NEET, although with widely differing intensity in each European country. Numerous studies have documented that differences between countries could be ascribed to numerous factors such as the various social or cultural norms of societies, the different structures and performance of their education and vocational training (VET) systems, and the functioning of local labour markets and economies in general. However, some questions remain unanswered: i. how profound is the impact of the economic crisis in terms of NEETs in the European countries? ii. to what extent are European countries vulnerable to recessionary shocks, in terms of NEETs and how much have they been able to recover after the crisis? This paper tries to answer the questions embracing the concept of resilience recently used to study the processes of economic growth and their spatial configurations, by applying a methodology suggested by Martin (2012). Specific attention will be devoted to NEETs aged 25-29 years who are supposed to have completed their formal educational path with a particular focus on those with tertiary education. The results will provide a reference framework at European level regarding the ability of the youth population to “resist” and “recover” from economic shocks that make it difficult for them to access and remain in the official labour market.