NEET

Also called: Not in employment, education or training · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

NEET stands for young people who are Not in Employment, Education or Training. They are not working, not studying and not learning a skill. It is a key measure of how many youth are left out of both the job market and the learning system, and it is an SDG indicator (SDG 8.6). A high NEET share wastes the demographic dividend, which is the benefit a country gets from a large young working population.

Example

A 22-year-old graduate who is sitting at home waiting for a government job, and is not studying or training, counts as NEET. According to the Economic Survey 2024, 65% of Indians are below 35. Many young people being NEET could turn this youthful population into a burden instead of an asset.

Don't confuse with

• Unemployed: unemployed people are actively looking for work. NEET also covers young people who are not looking, such as those doing unpaid care work at home. It also leaves out anyone who is studying.

Related concepts

• Skill gap
• Skill mismatch
• Employability
• Vocational education
• Apprenticeship
• Upskilling
• Reskilling
• Recognition of prior learning
• Online learning

Read more

• Skills, employability and the educated-unemployed paradox