NEETs in Europe

The value of NEETs decreased on average in all European countries between 2000 and 2022. However, there are some countries for which the value of NEETs increased, namely Cyprus, Romania, Denmark, and Slovenia. However, there are also huge differences between European countries. Specifically, countries such as Italy and Romania have nearly three times as many NEETs as Sweden, Iceland, and the Netherlands. There is therefore an essentially positive phenomenon, namely the reduction in the value of NEETs as an average between 2000 and 2020. However, this reduction is associated with a significant heterogeneity of the presence of NEETs in the various countries considered. The issue of NEETs is very relevant as it poses problems for the future sustainability of European economic systems and connected to the dimension of demographic growth. In fact, if young people have difficulty entering the world of work, or have difficulty following training and formal education, then the conditions are created for a weakness of the future working and managerial class both from the point of view of income and from the point of view of vocational training. Furthermore, it must be considered that the increase in NEETs can delay the formation of families, with negative consequences in terms of birth rate and demographic growth. It follows that the countries that employ a greater number of young people and which therefore have a lower value of NEETs are more ready to face the challenges of the future and could also have extra-premiums in terms of per capita income growth, human capital, research and development, and technological innovation.