Deconstructing the NEET Condition for a Renewed Policy Approach to Youth Vulnerability

Rosangela Lodigiani (), Mariagrazia Santagati () and Barbara Barabaschi ()
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Rosangela Lodigiani: Department of Sociology – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Mariagrazia Santagati: Department of Sociology – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Barbara Barabaschi: Department of Economic and Social Sciences – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, 2023, vol. 131, issue 3, 385-406

Abstract: This article discusses the not in education, employment, or training (NEET) construct used in public policies to identify vulnerable young people and respond to their needs but which is actually incapable of grasping their heterogeneity and diverse life conditions. We critically reflect on the shortcomings of the NEET indicator and its risk of essentializing a category that does not exist as such in reality. The underlying assumption is that these policies contribute to reinforcing these shortcomings and fail to intercept the most disadvantaged youngsters. Furthermore, the article provides some suggestions to go beyond the NEET category and proposes new approaches and research paths to understand and explain youth vulnerability, highlighting the social-cultural construction of youth vulnerability, the importance of the temporal dimension in youth marginalization and the usefulness of an intersectional approach that highlights young peoples’ personal resources, social resilience and capability to exploit social and economic life chances.

Keywords: NEET; school-to-work transition; youth employment policies; youth vulnerability; intersectional approach (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I38 J21 J24 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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