YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT: A SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR YOUNG ITALIANS NEET AND A COMPARISON WITH THE SOCIAL EXCLUSION CONDITION

Abstract

The spread of the NEET (young people not in education, employment and training) phenomenon in Italy is largely due to the recession that has exacerbated the structural problems of the labor market, worsening job opportunities and contractual conditions, particularly for young people. We analyze how the level of youth unemployment (YUR) influences the number of young NEETs, both as a direct cause and through the risk of discouraging young people, considering the endogeneity issue. We also analyze the role of YUR and other control variables characterizing the youth condition on the social exclusion rate, since the NEET status is comparable to a form of social exclusion. More information comes from the comparison between two divergent macro-areas: the wealthy Center-North and the less developed South of Italy. The results show that the causes of the two phenomena are different in the years of recession. YUR has a predominant effect on NEET, particularly in the less developed area.