“WE ARE NOT NEET”: How Categories Frame (Mis)Understanding And Impede Solutions”

As the effects of the economic re-structuring through the financial crisis are hitting the European labour market, the NEET category turns problematic and too wide to be a useful tool of analysis and social policy planning, a return to its original and limited meaning is envisaged. Disentangling this category can help us to understand why it is no longer a useful tool and to identify new strategies for analysing youth labour vulnerability and possible resources for building more resilient and inclusive labour markets. In the first part of the paper we assess the origin of the NEET label in the European Union as a category emerging from a widening concern about youth unemployment and social exclusion. Then we focus on different statuses and meanings lying behind this category in the Italian case, in order to show the multiple challenges that a growing number of young underemployed or inactive can pose to social integration and labour market resilience. The third step is to examine the current labour policies that target youth unemployment and inactivity. Beside educational and social policies the new policies adopted by Italy in this field are the development of apprenticeship and internship. The first has a long history but it was recently reshaped trying to follow the model of the German dual system. The second was legally introduced by the end of 90's and had a widespread use on the labour market without positive effects on the resilience of youth. Nevertheless it was widely used by the European program of Youth Guarantee. Our analysis draws on Eurostat and national statistic data and on 25 interviews to Italian policy makers and experts.