In recent days taking part in a debate on the job market I happened to evoke the data of NEET anomalous in the European context. It is known – it often happens to me – that the speaker is convinced that those who listen have the same basic information and knowledge. On that occasion I was asked what was meant by the acronym Neet. After having tried to come up with a definition in halting English (Not in education, employment or Training), I resigned myself to using my own language and providing a detailed explanation of the subject. In Italy, approximately 1,7 million young people between 15 and 29 years old are not studying, working or engaged in training for at least 6 months . Between 2014 and 2023, the Neet incidence rate in Italy of young people between 15 and 29 years of age has dropped (this is also a positive trend) by about 10 percentage points: from 26,3% to 16,1%. The main improvements have been perceived in the last two years. The share of Neet in 2023 has in fact decreased by 3 percentage points compared to the previous year, and by almost 7,6 compared to 2020.
Neet, what is this about?
Despite the improvement, Italy confirms itself as still the second country in the EU with the highest rate of NEETs, preceded only by Romania (19,8%), and far from the European average of 11,7%. But the textbook explanation was not enough. The person who asked me the question commented: "But if these young people do not study, do not work, are not engaged in a training course, what do they do all day?". It seemed to me a common sense consideration, worthy of further investigation. I therefore began to look for sociological investigations of different orientations, with the aim of identifying not only the structural aspects of the complex phenomenon, but also of getting closer to understanding its motivations without settling for the generic analyses circulating among which the frustration matured due to the difficulties of adequate access that would discourage young people from getting involved preferring instead to take a "break". This is the title of aextensive research on the topic of Cgil, in which important data from Istat are collected, regarding the characteristics of the inactive component.
According to the research 88% of young people who neither study nor work have a medium-low level of education. In particular, 51% have a diploma – high school diploma (44%) or professional qualification (8%) – 33% have a middle school diploma and only 13% have a bachelor's degree or higher. The Istat data therefore reveal that the educational qualification can affect the probability of entering or exiting the NEET condition. They also highlight an important correlation between the tendency to fall back into a condition of inactivity and the medium-low level of education: Even among NEETs, the usual gender disparity emerges.
Neet, what is the situation of women?
Over the last decade, the share of NEET women has remained very high compared to that of men, worsening in the last year. The percentage of NEET women increases in the case of young women of foreign origin, reaching 73%.. The highest incidence of women who neither study nor work is recorded in the territories of Southern Italy and the Islands (Sicily, Campania, Calabria, Puglia). Overall, women are older than men, 40% are in fact between 30 and 34 years old, 33% between 25 and 29 years old, 21% between 20 and 24 years old and 6% between 15 and 19 years old. The largest share of young people in the NEET condition is between 20 and 24 years old (32%); young NEETs between 15 and 19 years old are also more numerous than women (12%).
The reasons for this disparity may be different: on the one hand, there may be a greater tendency for young people to abandon education early, also confirmed by the data regarding educational qualifications which show a higher share of young NEET graduates (15%) than their male peers (10%); on the other hand, the greater presence of NEET women in the 30-34 age group could be related to the tendency of young people to exit the job market due to the need to manage family care loads. This latter assumption could be confirmed by the data regarding inactive Neet, of which girls represent the largest share (65%): of these, 46% state that they would like to work even if they are not looking for a job, while among the remaining 30%, state that they are not looking for work because they are busy managing family care loads of minors or non-self-sufficient people and 21% for other family reasons (e.g. they are housewives). Young Neet women, therefore, even if they are engaged full-time in family care work, are erroneously defined as "inactive".
Their unavailability – according to the Cgil – is determined by the unpaid work that they already carry out within the family environment and which hinders their access to employment and training opportunities. In the case of men, who represent 35% of inactive Neet people, only 1% are not looking for work for reasons related to managing care loads and 5% for other family reasons. In an interview in the magazine Civic, an expert of the calibre of Maurizio Del Conte identifies a significant relationship between inactivity and dropping out of school, in the sense that the rule according to which those who no longer wanted to study were sent to work by their families is no longer practicable: "The generic worker that Italian industry employed in the past no longer exists".
Even today – Del Conte points out – to work in industrial production you need a diploma, a mechanical, electronic or, better yet, robotics specialization. All professions require specific technical skills to be applied, skills that are often lacking and that contribute to increasing the gap between supply and demand on the labor market. This discrepancy is also due to deficiencies in school guidance which end up enclosing within the family or circle of friends the educational choice, at the conclusion of the obligation, which will condition the whole life of the boy.
Neet, a report on the phenomenon in Italy
This analysis is in line with the new evaluation elements also contained in the report Lost in transition of the National Youth Council, where a very different picture is drawn from the usual one. While confirming that, at an official level, just over two million young people do not study and do not work, the report qualifies this figure with details that assume great importance in clarifying the nature of the Neet phenomenon in Italy.
Lost in transition in fact reports that, according to the data collected, 88,9% of Italian NEETs living in cities and almost 75% of those living in inland areas have or would have recently had a job. However, these jobs do not emerge in official statistics because most of them are irregular jobs, without contracts and without a legal wage. As the report itself summarizes, they are therefore undeclared work.
But it's not just about odd jobs. 50% of NEETs in urban areas declare that they are economically independent, a percentage similar to that of Neet who have a university degree or academic diploma in urban areas, over 63%. Although these data are comforting with regard to the social situation of young Italians, they remain serious from an economic point of view.
A significant segment of the working population, among those who should be most involved in economic activity, is relegated to a marginal role. Casual jobs, without contracts and guarantees, bring uncertainty that compromises future projects of these people and has serious impacts on various aspects of Italian society, from consumption to the development of a family and the birth crisis.
The central theme of the report Lost in transition however, it is the comparison between metropolitan areas and the rest of the country, called internal areas. In fact, a good part of the positive data regarding Neet comes from the former, with the sole exception of the number of young people who actually work even if undeclared, which is very high even in the province (74,8%) although 15 percentage points away from the results recorded in the city. In essence, a new relationship with work would emerge that would see the young – permanently sheltered by the family context for the normal needs of life – accessing work to "stock up" on an income, perhaps temporary, to be used for purposes that emerge in a specific period of time. In conclusion, it does not seem possible to imprison a complex phenomenon such as that of the Neet in a single model and in a uniform interpretation, also because sooner or later it will be necessary to put in order the themes that are commonly addressed each one separately: educational poverty, the condition of absolute poverty among employed workers, especially young people, and irregular work.
