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This paper presents an overview of the situation of youth in OECD countries since the onset of the financial crisis focusing primarily on describing the characteristics and living conditions of young NEETs. It also provides data on the availability, coverage and effectiveness of income-support policies for young people, and summarises available evidence on the impact of interventions that aim at improving the social, education and employment situation of the most disadvantaged youth. Due to the paper’s explicit focus on the hardest-to-place, most disadvantaged youth, the range of policies covered is broader than in earlier studies on the same topic, including various social benefits and in-kind services targeted at this group. The paper shows that NEET rates have not yet recovered from the crisis. There are large differences in youth unemployment and inactivity across countries, and these differences were further exacerbated by the recession. Reducing NEET rates is a great challenge for governments, as youth who remain jobless for long periods typically come from more disadvantaged backgrounds, have low levels of educational attainment, and are in many cases inactive. There is substantial evidence, however, that even the most disadvantaged youth can benefit from a variety of targeted interventions, including for instance special education programmes and mentoring.
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... The surge in the global NEET population has prompted an increase in empirical studies dedicated to uncovering the intrinsic risk factors associated with this demographic (Carcillo et al., 2015;Pitka¨nen et al., 2021;Youn & Kang, 2023). Nonetheless, these investigations have overlooked to address the unique challenges faced by female, a result of the diversity and systemic inequalities within the NEET demographic. ...
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... Since the 2000s, an orientation towards problematic transitions and risk factors has fostered a shift in the focus of school-to-work-transition research from unemployment to early school leaving and NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) (cf. Carcillo et al., 2015). These new foci reflect the move towards individualised and preventative approaches in labour market policies in the framework of activating welfare states (cf. ...
... The high rate of NEET young people among the young population forms the basis of many socioeconomic problems. This situation shows that the majority of young people lack adequate education and have never stepped into working life (Carcillo et al., 2015). ...
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