Youth inactivity presents the share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET).
Young people in education include those attending part-time or full-time education, but exclude those in non-formal education and in educational atcivities of very short duration.
Employment is defined according to the ILO Guidelines and covers all those who have been in paid work for at least one hour in the reference week of the survey or were temporarily absent from such work. Young people who are NEET are at risk of becoming socially excluded, with income below the poverty-line and without the skills to improve their economic situation.
Correlation between GDP per capita and NEET index [Source OECD, 2013]
Research shows that disengagement at this age is disastrous in personal terms; causes problems in the community in the form of nuisance and crime; leads to long-term costs in increased criminality, welfare dependency, housing and a wide range of social and economic factors. Without help, countries with a high NEET index will not possibly break that vicious circle