Persistency in the NEET state: a longitudinal analysis

an article by Dalit Contini, Marianna Filandri and Lia Pacelli (University of Torino, Italy) published in Journal of Youth Studies Volume 22 Issue 7 (2019)

Abstract

This article addresses the NEET phenomenon in a longitudinal perspective, by examining the case of Italy, a country experiencing one of the highest and increasing NEET shares in the EU.

We exploit the longitudinal sample of the 2008-2011 EU-SILC data, providing self-declared information on individuals’ educational and occupational status on a monthly basis for 4 years.

Firstly, we propose a classification of individual histories in education, employment and the NEET states. According to our estimates, more than 40% of the Italian young people report being NEET for at least 13 months out of 48, and more than 10% for (almost) the entire period.

Secondly, we examine the composition of the NEET groups and draw a long-term NEET risk profile for individuals from different sociodemographic groups.

Thirdly, we examine the longitudinal histories by distinguishing between unemployment and inactivity spells.

Our findings show that the NEET phenomenon among Italian young adults is largely an issue of unemployment. The only exception is represented by Italian older females with children, the majority of which portrays themselves as inactive. Still, a sizable portion of these women define themselves as being mainly ‘unemployed’ instead of ‘performing domestic tasks’, indicating an unsatisfied wish or need to work.

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Who cares? Exploring economic inactivity among young women in the NEET group across England

an article by Sue Maguire (University of Bath, UK) published in Journal of Education and Work Volume 31 Issue 7-8 (2018)

Abstract

This paper explores what it means to be defined as NEET and economically inactive (EI).

It draws on research conducted in England in 2016 and 2017 to examine the lives of young women who carry this label.

While the term ‘NEET’ has been extended in recent years to cover a much wider age cohort of young people across the UK (and internationally), this has failed to be accompanied by an expansion in understanding about the wider group of young people it now embraces. The division within the NEET group between young people who are defined as economically active (EA), i.e. unemployed, and economically inactive (EI) triggers significant differences in the type of welfare entitlement and associated levels of support received.

The paper explores why there are many young women who become NEET and EI and remain so for long periods of time. It presents evidence which highlights that young women often find themselves isolated and disconnected, despite their abilities and aspirations.

The existing evidence would suggest the wider categorisation of NEET status and, crucially, associated policy interventions are failing to meet the needs of many young people, both those classified as NEET EA and those classified as NEET EI.

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Disadvantaged neighbourhoods and young people not in education, employment or training at the ages of 18 to 19 in England

an article by Jenkins Karyda (University College London Institute of Education, London, UK) published in Journal of Education and Work Volume 31 Number 3, 3 (April 2018)

Abstract

There is a growing interest among researchers in the impact of locality on young people who are inactive and not engaged in education, employment or training (NEETs). Previous research on this, however, is rather limited and does not account for a number of characteristics that mediate the effects of disadvantaged neighbourhoods on transition outcomes.

This study investigates the effects of neighbourhood context on young people who experience NEET status at the ages 18 to 19 in one cohort born in 1989/90 in the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE).

The analyses control for a wide range of factors which may affect NEET status. Drawing on previous sociological theories, we develop a theoretical framework that specifies four levels of influence on young people’s development: individual, family, school and peer group characteristics.

Potential pathways between neighbourhood context and individual outcomes are explored using a logistic regression model. We demonstrate that there is a higher probability for young people who live in high-crime areas to become NEETs in comparison to those who live in less-deprived areas.

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Long-term scarring effect of neither working nor studying

an article by Fredrik W. Andersson and Susanne Gullberg Brännstrom (Statistics Sweden, Örebro, Sweden) and Roger Mörtvik (Umeå University, Sweden) published in International Journal of Manpower Volume 39 Issue 2 (May 2018)

Abstract

Purpose
It is increasingly important to study labour market outcomes for people who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). Where most studies focus solely on young people, the purpose of this paper is to include both younger and older NEETs to find out if there is any long-term scarring effect, and if the effect is different between these two groups.

Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a twin-based estimation method for the first time to measure the long-term effect of economic inactivity on income. The analysis is based on biological twins, in order to control for individuals’ unobservable heterogeneity. It is assumed that twins are similar to each other and the only unobservable heterogeneity is at the family level. Register-based data from Statistics Sweden is used.

Findings
The result indicates a significant negative income effect for those who have been in NEET, and is larger for those who have been in NEET for several consecutive periods of time. Individuals who were in NEET during 2001-2003 had on average 62 per cent lower income compared with their twin in 2011. The corresponding number for individuals who were in NEET for just one period was 33 per cent. Hence, time in NEET reduces income. The results show that the long-term scarring effect is not affected by age.

Originality/value
This study utilises for the first time a twin-based estimation method to measure the long-term effect of inactivity. Most studies focus solely on young people, but the authors also include an older group of people.

JEL Classification: J20, J24, J30, J60

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What makes a NEET?

via OECD.org - Directorate for Education and Skills

This short blog post by Karinne Logez (Statistician, OECD Directorate for Education and Skills) provides an insight into NEETS - young people aged between 15 and 29 years old who are not in employment, education or training - who are a potential problem both for society and for themselves. The proportion of young people neither working nor studying offers an insight into how well economies manage the transition between school and work – better than youth unemployment rates, which do not take into account the numbers in education.

Continue reading (and follow links to more substantial reporting on this topic)

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Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), May 2013

This Statistical Bulletin contains estimates for Young People who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).

For January to March 2013:

• There were 1.09 million young people (aged from 16 to 24) in the UK who were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), up 21,000 from October to December 2012 but down 101,000 from a year earlier.
• The percentage of all young people in the UK who were NEET was 15.1%, up 0.3 percentage points from October to December 2012 but down 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier.
• Just over half (53.0%) of all young people in the UK who were NEET were looking for work and available for work and therefore classified as unemployed. The remainder were either not looking for work and/or not available for work and therefore classified as economically inactive.

Full bulletin (PDF 7pp)

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The complex NEET problem demands a tailored approach

via The Work Founation News by Katy Jones

The number of NEET young people continues to remains stubbornly high. The latest figures show that 15% of 16-24 year-olds in the UK are not in employment, education or training and the number has been hovering around the million mark for some time.

Full text of press release

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Towards a learning identity: young people becoming learners after leaving school

an article by Jane Higgins (AERU, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand) published in Research in Post-Compulsory Education Volume 18 Issue 1-2 (2013)

Abstract

This article explores the development of learning identities among 51 young New Zealanders who left school with few or no qualifications. Most experienced a period of time after leaving school when they were not in education, employment or training (known as NEET).

At the time of this research all had moved into a learning environment of some kind.

The development of learning identities involved the explicit rejection of their former NEET identities and was facilitated by aspects of their current learning environment, particularly relationships with tutors and fellow students and styles of learning that differed from their school experiences. Within this context the young people were able to think about crafting future pathways into further education and employment.

The article concludes with a discussion of current policy directions that attempt to reintegrate these young people into a school-like system, a process that may be unhelpful for them.

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The experiences of long-term unemployed young adults in the South West of England: some new insights

an article by Robert Lawy and Rachel Wheeler (University of Exeter, UK) published in Research in Post-Compulsory Education Volume 18 Issue 1-2 (2013)

Abstract

In this paper we explore the experiences of three long-term unemployed young adults from different backgrounds in the 18–24 age range.

The data comprise three interviews conducted over an 18-month period with seven of the original 19 participants in the research. At the time of first interview none of the young adults had been in education, employment or training for six months. Drawing upon a Bourdieusian framework, we demonstrate that differential access to economic, social and cultural resources significantly influenced, not only what they were able to reasonably contemplate but also what they were able to achieve.

We question some commonly held assumptions about young people and their orientations, and the efficacy of economic and educational policies designed to increase employment, reduce inequality and ‘meet the needs’ of the unemployed.

We claim that new insights and understandings of youth unemployment and transition can result from a broader, more holistic theorisation that fully represents the experiences and understandings of all the young adults that are being affected.

Notwithstanding this, we indicate the need for research to increase understanding and provide a strong, robust and theoretically informed evidence base for policy-makers and those concerned with the interests of young unemployed adults.

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Will raising the participation age in England solve the NEET problem?

an article by Sue Maguire (University of Warwick, Coventry, UK) published in Research in Post-Compulsory Education Volume 18 Issue 1-2 (2013)

Abstract

This paper considers the rationale for introducing the raising of the participation age (RPA) in learning in England from 2013 and assesses how, if fully implemented, it could contribute to improving the outcomes for young people who do not participate in any form of post-16 education, employment or training, and are currently defined as not in education, employment or training (NEET).

It considers previous experience of extending young people’s participation in learning, both in the UK and overseas, and draws on evidence from the author’s research on a recent policy initiative targeted at the NEET group.

The piloting of activity agreements explored the value of offering a financial incentive, tailored learning and intensive support as mechanisms to re-engage young people in post-16 education, employment or training.

Faced by a lack of enforcement; the necessary levels of investment in support mechanisms to engage with young people and to sustain their participation in learning; and innovative approaches to post-16 learning, the article concludes that the RPA will, in effect, be allowed to ‘wither on the vine’.

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Against disengagement: non-participation as an object of governance

an article by Ross Fergusson (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK) published in Research in Post-Compulsory Education Volume 18 Issue 1-2 (2013)

Abstract

The discourse of disengagement has achieved ascendancy just as young people’s employment prospects have declined – in many countries to crisis levels.

Conceptualising and interpreting young people’s non-participation in dominant modes of education, training and employment has been a preoccupation of academics, policy-makers and journalists.

This paper offers a critical analysis of the discourse of disengagement.

It queries the primacy of participation as the dominant policy response to mass youth unemployment, identifies some paradoxes of this policy priority, and locates them within a political-economic analysis of youth unemployment.

It proposes a view of prevailing policy responses as a mode of governance of problematised populations of young ‘non-participants’.

By juxtaposing two ostensibly incompatible analytical frameworks, the paper draws attention to some potentially illuminating tensions between materialist and governmentalist analyses of dominant policy responses to ‘disengagement’, and considers how these might be exploited in researching and reconceptualising non-participation.

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Engaging the disengaged

a publication in NFER’s Research programme by Kelly Kettlewell, Clare Southcott, Eleanor Stevens and Tami McCrone

Executive summary

Introduction

Over recent years, public awareness of the number of young people described as being not in education, employment or training (NEET) has grown. However, the NEET group is heterogeneous and young people falling into this group have a vast array of characteristics, needs, attributes and ambitions. Research by Spielhofer et al. (2009) presented a statistical segmentation of the NEET classification, and identified three broad subgroups: sustained; open to learning; and undecided NEETs. Over three-fifths of NEET young people fall into the ‘open to learning’ or ‘undecided’ categories yet, due to their lack of multiple complex barriers to engagement, these young people could be prevented from becoming NEET if targeted by the right intervention early on (Audit Commission, 2010). This would allow valuable post-16 resources to be targeted more specifically towards the much smaller sustained group of NEET young people.

However, despite this evidence, few studies identify interventions that are most effective with young people at risk of becoming open to learning or undecided NEET. NFER is attempting to address this gap through this project, and other related work in its From Education to Employment research activities.

This research project aims to build on the recent series of reviews undertaken through the From Education to Employment research programme¹ by examining the impact of interventions that are in place to support students aged 14-16 who are at risk of temporary disconnection from learning. The research is based on six case-study schools with different support programmes for Year 10 students. Schools were visited in the summer term of 2012. Interviews were undertaken with staff involved in the programme and focus groups were held with students. This is the first report in a longitudinal project that will track these students through to post-compulsory destinations.

Key Findings

Schools’ support programmes included more than one approach to support students at risk of disengagement

The majority of the programmes integrated two or more approaches to preventing disengagement, such as employer involvement, alternative curricula and careers guidance. All programmes had an element of personalised careers information, advice and guidance.

Many of the programmes involved employers, but the level of employer engagement varied considerably. Approaches tended to have a relatively high staff to student ratio.

Programmes were targeting those students showing characteristics associated with being at risk of temporary disconnection from learning

Schools had adopted a formalised approach to identifying students; however this often included a mix of ‘hard’ outcome measures and ‘softer’ behavioural or attitudinal measures. The majority of students selected for the extra support were either not achieving their potential academically or had mild behavioural issues, or a combination of these factors. This reflects the findings of previous research that young people at risk of temporary disconnection tend not to have complex needs and therefore may not be picked up by traditional Risk of NEET Indicators (Filmer-Sankey and McCrone, 2012).

Students generally had a positive view of school. However, they also recognised that they were not necessarily always well behaved. Students were positive about their future careers after completing their compulsory education or training and were particularly interested in progressing into work-based learning.

Both staff and students felt the support programmes were effective

Effective elements of programmes were perceived to be:

• relationships between learners and staff;
• one-to-one support;
• practical hands-on application;
• flexibility of the programme in meeting students’ needs; and
• small class sizes with high adult to student ratio.

Students involved in work-based learning welcomed opportunities to prepare for the world of work and become job ready. Students involved in mentoring-related support valued the advice and guidance they had received about progression opportunities and the ability to keep track of their grades.

Students were showing signs of benefiting from the programmes in their first year of support

The support programmes resulted in a range of soft impacts including an improvement in students’ attitudes towards learning; increased confidence, self esteem and motivation; raised aspirations and students feeling better informed about future career paths. Hard impacts for current students included improved attendance at school and increased achievement, including achievement in literacy and numeracy. Staff reported that hard impacts for young people in previous years included progression into apprenticeships, employment or further study.

The evidence suggests that support programmes also impacted on staff in terms of knowledge and skills development and the opportunity to develop professionally.

Conclusions

Overall, in the first year of delivery with this cohort, staff and learners were positive about the support that had been provided and, in all cases, the support appeared to be having some level of the intended impact on the students.

The evidence shows that a range of different support programmes have been delivered to prevent students from disconnecting from education including mentoring schemes to improve engagement, extended work experience and alternative provision with a vocational focus. The content of the support varied, highlighting that a ‘one size fits all’ approach may not be appropriate for these students.

Despite this variation, it is apparent that some aspects of support work particularly well with these students including one-to-one support; personalised and flexible provision, practical or vocational elements and employer engagement.

The characteristics displayed by students involved in the support programmes are those associated with students who become temporarily NEET (Spielhofer et al., 2009). Schools recognise that they cannot use just hard measures (such as attainment or attendance) to identify these particular young people as it is a combination of factors that puts them at risk of disengagement. Schools may, therefore, value a comprehensive list of indicators to identify young people at risk of becoming NEET, and the reasons why they are likely to disengage. Only by understanding the reasons why can the appropriate intervention be put into place (Filmer-Sankey and McCrone, 2012).

Next steps

Based on the evidence, the programmes of support do appear to be having a positive impact on learners in the short-term. In order to determine the longer-term success of these approaches, we will monitor their progress over the next two years as the young people move from compulsory education to post-compulsory destinations.

From September 2012, schools will have new responsibilities for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CE/IAG). This is likely to impact on the interventions that schools deliver. Therefore, in order to ascertain the impact, we will undertake a similar study starting in March 2013, with a focus on new initiatives, tracking students from 2013 to 2017.

Together with a parallel research study we are undertaking that is looking at producing a comprehensive list of NEET indicators which will help to identify not only the likelihood of becoming NEET but also the reasons why, the outputs of these projects will helps schools to identify the type of young person at risk of NEET and the appropriate intervention for preventing this outcome.

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¹ Please see: http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research-programme/from-education-to-employment.cfm

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NEETS: Young people not in employment, education or training: Characteristics, costs and policy responses in Europe

a report (Ref: ef1254) by Massimiliano Mascherini, Lidia Salvatore, Anja Meierkord and Jean-Marie Jungblut (Eurofound¹) from Publications Office of the European Union, 2012, pubslihed 22 October

The economic crisis has severely damaged the employment prospects of young people in Europe, and their employment rate is now at the lowest level ever. To better capture the extent of economic inactivity among the young, the concept of NEET – not in employment, education or training – has been developed.

This report analyses the labour market situation of young people in Europe, with a specific focus on the NEET group. It examines the determinants of belonging to the NEET group, and measures the economic and social costs of NEETs.

It also assesses how Member States through policies and interventions have sought to support young people to gain a foothold in the labour market. It shows that successful policy initiatives address specific, disadvantaged subgroups in the NEET population. They are client-centred in their efforts to set young people on a pathway to long-term, sustainable employment and they are innovative, adopting new ways of reaching a target group.

¹The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is a tripartite EU body, whose role is to provide key actors in social policy-making with findings, knowledge and advice drawn from comparative research.

Full report (PDF 171pp)

Summary (Ref: ef12541) (PDF 2pp)

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Intergenerational transmission of worklessness: …

Evidence from the Millennium Cohort and the Longitudinal Study of Young People In England

a DFE Research Report (DFE-RR234) by Matt Barnes, Victoria Brown, Samantha Parsons, Andy Ross, and Ingrid Schoon (Centre for Analysis of Youth Transitions) and Anna Vignoles (Institute of Education and National Centre for Social Research) published by the DFE as DFE-RR234 in September 2012

Abstract

This project investigated the extent of parental worklessness in families with young and teenage children, and determined how parental worklessness impacts on children’s cognitive ability, education attainment, behaviours, attitude to school, academic aspirations and experience of the transition from school to work.

We found that parental worklessness was significantly associated with:

• poorer academic attainment and behavioural adjustment of young children (at age 7)
• poorer academic attainment (GCSE point scores) of young people (at Key Stage 4 (KS4))
• with being not in education, employment and training (NEET) and with being NEET for longer (months spent in NEET) in late adolescence.

This result was obtained even after allowing for a number of other socioeconomic risks facing these children and young people (e.g. low income, low parental education level). Though it must be stated that much of the association (but not all) between parental worklessness and these outcomes was attributable to these other risk factors facing workless families.

Parental worklessness had no independent effect on a number of other outcomes, such as children’s well-being (not being happy at school, being bullied and bullying other children), feelings of lack of control, becoming a teen parent, and risky behaviour.

This evidence provides limited support for a policy agenda targeted only at getting parents back into work. It was generally not parental worklessness per se that caused poorer outcomes in childhood and adolescence but rather the complex needs and numerous socio-economic risks faced by workless families.

Our report cannot determine whether we should tackle the underlying sources of these risks (e.g. family poverty, poor parental education etc.) or deal directly with the consequences of these risks (e.g. poor achievement of young people at KS4; experience of NEET). What our research does clearly show is that policy needs to not only target getting parents back into work but also to address the other risks that these children and their families face

Full text (PDF 52pp)

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Preventing young people from becoming NEET: A practical guide for headteachers

The NFER Research Programme: From Education to Employment

This short paper (PDF 8pp) provides bullet-point advice to head teachers in both primary and secondary schools as to what might help young people move successfully from education into employment.

Whilst written to meet the needs of teaching staff careers practitioners may find some of the points useful.

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A review of careers professionals’ involvement with schools

This review by Tami Mccrone and Caroline Filmer-Sankey forms one of a suite of four literature reviews that have been completed under the From Education to Employment theme.

These reviews collectively identify strategies for assisting young people at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) to make effective transitions into learning or employment post 16. In 2011 one in five (22.3 per cent) young people aged 16-24 were unemployed (a total of 1.04 million). A slightly lower, but still large, proportion (19.2 per cent) of young people aged 16-24 were NEET.

All four reviews build upon a large body of research on the reasons why young people are NEET, and on recent NFER research, which presented a “segmentation” analysis identifying three discrete sub-categories of NEET young people aged 16-17.

• “Open to learning ”  NEETs – young people most likely to re-engage in education or training in the short term and with higher levels of attainment and better attitudes towards school than other NEET young people. 
• “ Sustained ”  NEETs  –  young people characterised by their negative experience of school, higher levels of truancy and exclusion, and lower academic attainment than other NEET young people. They are most likely to remain NEET in the medium term.
• “ Undecided ”  NEETs  –  young people similar in some respects, such as their attainment levels, to those who are 'open to learning' NEET, but dissatisfied with available opportunities and their inability to access what they want to do.

This report explores what the best available recent research tells us about successful careers education, information, advice and guidance (CE/IAG) approaches for supporting all young people (u niversal support) and young people at risk of becoming NEET (targeted support) in their transitions and decision-making.

The From Education to Employment theme within The NFER Research Programme has a particular interest in young people who are “open to learning” or “undecided” NEETs, as there is the potential to make a substantial difference to these groups, if they can be effectively identified and supported.

Full publication (PDF 40pp)

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We need a fundamental change if we are to arm our college leavers with the skills to succeed

Fintan Donohue (chief executive of Gazelle Global and principal and CEO of North Hertfordshire College) via FE News

The Work Foundation report, Lost in transition? The changing labour market and young people not in employment, education or training, states that 450,000 Neets have never had a regular job. The report reaches the the same conclusion as many others over the last decade, that young people trying to get on the first rung of the employment ladder don't have the depth or breadth of experience that they require in this changing economic climate.

Read the FE News article here and the full report by Paul Sissons and Katy Jones (PDF 48pp) here.

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The cost of youth unemployment

Paul Gregg and Lindsey Macmillan via CMPO Viewpoint

In hard times, young people face two hurdles to finding work.

First, firms tend to hold onto their existing experienced staff but stop recruitment to reduce their workforce. This collapse in new vacancies hits young people hardest.

Second, with more unemployment comes more choice of potential employees for firms who are hiring. Firms favour previous experience placing young people in a catch 22 situation of not being able to get the experience they need to get work because they can't get the work in the first place. For the least educated or those who are unlucky enough to experience long periods out of work now, it is increasingly hard to get that break that opens the door to the labour market.

Read more

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Barriers and facilitators to pro-social behaviour among young people: a review of existing evidence

a Research Report (DFE-RR188) by Lucy Lee and Gareth Morrell (NatCen) and Annalisa Marini and Sarah Smith (University of Bristol)

This report presents findings of a study into the motivations, barriers and facilitators of pro-social activity amongst young people. The research was intended to establish the existing evidence base in this area and comprised a review of the literature and analysis of available national survey data.

The research was conducted by members of the Centre for Understanding Behaviour Change (CUBeC). The Centre exists to deliver evidence and insight into the drivers of behaviour change to inform and improve policy-making. It combines expertise across a wide range of academic disciplines: economics, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, education, and social research. The centre has members at the University of Bristol, IFS, NatCen, Institute of Education, UCL, LSE, Oxford, and Imperial College, and is funded by the Department.

Includes:

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Pro-social activities amongst young people
• Demographic profile
• Motivations, facilitators and barriers
• Impacts of pro-social behaviour
• Discussion
• Bibliography

Full text (PDF 54pp)

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From education to the workplace: a global challenge

On 30 June 2011, a seminar on Youth and Employment was hosted by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, and jointly organised by four European agencies: Cedefop, ETF, EU-OSHA and Eurofound.

The agencies highlighted the complementarity of their work by each presenting different aspects and perspectives related to youth employment in Europe and its neighbourhood countries.

Topics included

• the transition from education to the workplace;
• guidance for young people at risk;
• safe and decent jobs for young people;
• the “NEETs” phenomenon and its economic costs;
• the active inclusion of disadvantaged young people in employment; and 
• the global dimension of youth employment.

Full report (PDF 19pp) published 14 November, 2011
Full speakers’ presentations are also available.

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