YOUTH WHO ARE NOT IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT OR TRAINING: ASSESSMENT OF FEATURES AND MEASURES FOR ENGAGING IN THE LABOR MARKET IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article investigates the main characteristics of young people aged 15—29 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the conditions of war in Ukraine. This group of young people is excluded from the education system and the labor market, which leads to problems with employment and involvement in society. The purpose of the article is to determine the features of the profile of young people NEET and to develop proposals for the areas of their involvement in employment and education in the crisis conditions of the fullscale invasion of the rf into Ukraine. An important contribution of this article is the assessment of the age, educational, and gender characteristics of a group of young people who are not engaged in labor or educational activities and their transformation in the conditions of military invasion. The novelty of the article lies in the implementation and assessment of the disaggregation of youth NEET in accordance with the concept of heterogeneity. Based on this approach, the paper examines the profile of young people NEET in terms of the reasons for unemployment or non-education, which is important for policy development and implementation of measures to re-integrate young people into the labor market or education system. The article is determined that the number and composition of young NEET changed over the period 2017—2023. The share of economically inactive young people has increased significantly. In 2023, only 25 % of NEETs were not in employment or training for reasons related to the labor market. The remaining 75 % of NEETs were not in employment or training for other socio-demographic reasons, such as family responsibilities, illness or disability, etc. It was found that among young women, 16 % did not study or work for reasons related to the labor market, while among men, this group was 3.6 times larger and amounted to 44 %. The main reason for refusing to work and study has been indicated by 68 % of women to fulfill family responsibilities. Among men, this category was only 3 %. Based on information on the number and characteristics of each subgroup, priorities were identified for developing measures to attract such youth to employment and education, namely: expanding dual education, stimulating employers, recognizing non-formal education, special measures designed to attract young women, and creating opportunities for youth to participate in public life of society.

The study was conducted based on general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and methods of statistical evaluation of indicators based on the results of sample surveys. The information base for the study of youth participation in the labor market is data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine before the declaration of martial law on February 24, 2022 and data from the National Sample Survey of the SocioEconomic Status of Households, which was conducted in December 2023 — February 2024.

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