Searching for Absents: The State of things for the Neets (Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training) in Greece. An Overview

Abstract

Neets (young people Not in Education, Employment or Training) is a distinctive social group which includes all the major characteristics of a contemporary social pathogeny. In Europe, only a few pieces of research have been carried out in order to determine the population and its characteristics which consist this social group. We tried to investigate the formation of Neets in Greece and to determine the characteristics of the persons who could be categorized as Neet. The percentage of Neets, as demonstrated by the findings of the survey "Barometer of Absents", is particularly high in Greece. The biographical rupture which a NEET has suffered and the vulnerability which he/she undergoes do not prevent him/her from redrawing his/her life orbit and from highlighting broader proposals to address social vulnerability and mitigate social inequalities. The quantitative mapping of NEETs based also on specific demographic characteristics, as well as the recording of the qualitative characteristics of an undoubtedly multi-parametric phenomenon are leading to the conclusion that in Greece is required a combined, multi-layered and targeted intervention that can re-integrate Neets.