Heterogeneity among Young People Neither in Employment Nor in Education in Brazil

• DOI: 10.1177/0002716220913234
• Published date: 01 March 2020
• Date: 01 March 2020

208 ANNALS, AAPSS, 688, March 2020

DOI: 10.1177/0002716220913234

Heterogeneity

among Young

People Neither

in Employment

Nor in

Education in

Brazil

By

TAMILLE SALES DIAS

and

ANA MARIA NOGALES

VASCONCELOS

913234ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYHeterogeneity amount NEET Young People in Brazil

research-article2020

We examined the diverse composition of young people

aged 15–29 in Brazil who are not in education, employ-

ment, or training (NEET). The analysis shows the

Brazilian NEET population’s main characteristics by

analyzing data from the 2014 National Household

Sample Survey. The findings confirm significant socio-

economic heterogeneity in group composition, which

allows identification of subgroups with different levels

of social vulnerability. A considerable proportion of

these young people are in this status due to structural

issues and social inequality, and for another significant

portion of cases, NEET status is not a problem in itself.

Therefore, especially in Latin America where demo-

graphic transitions have resulted in large economically

active populations, investigations of youth inactivity and

risk of social exclusion among this group are warranted.

Keywords: youth; NEET; education; labor; family;

inequalities; multiple correspondence

analysis

Young people are important agents of social

and economic transformation, and the

social benefits that may accrue to a country

with favorable demographics (rising propor-

tions of the population in the working ages)

would be jeopardized if youth are neglected.

Vieira (2009) argues that the challenges and

limits of a demographic dividend, whether or

not it is being availed, depend on how our ado-

lescents and young people transition into

adulthood and under what circumstances. Pais

(2005) also warns that in countries with an

Tamille Dias is a policy analyst at the Ministry of

Economy in Brazil. She holds an MSc in Social Policy

and Social Research from University College London

and an MSc in Development Studies from the University

of Brasilia.

Ana Maria Nogales Vasconcelos is a professor at the

University of Brasilia. She is a former vice-president of

the Brazilian Population Association and director of

Social Policy Studies at the Federal District Government.

Correspondence: tamille.dias@gmail.com

HETEROGENEITY AMOUNT NEET YOUNG PEOPLE IN BRAZIL 209

aging population, it is necessary to make young people more active in the work-

force to sustain the integrity of social protection systems. Therefore, especially

in Latin America where demographic transitions have resulted in large youth

populations, investigations of youth inactivity and risk of social exclusion among

youth are warranted.

Young people in NEET—not in education, employment, or training—have

often been associated with situations of social risk. From an economic per-

spective, education constitutes one of a society’s greatest foundations for

development; when a large proportion of people at the critical age of transi-

tioning into the labor market do not make this transition and do not attend

school, there will almost certainly be future developmental losses in that

society (Menezes Filho, Cabanas, and Komatsu 2013). From a broader social

point of view, those in NEET may find themselves in vulnerable conditions

and incapable of accessing opportunity structures (Camarano and Kanso

2012).

Failure among youth to develop in ways that enable them to adjust to

adult roles is a social concern (Abramo 1997). Being NEET has been pre-

sented as a status of failure, dysfunction, or anomie in the process of social

integration. From this perspective, being in NEET is fundamentally a social

problem, because these people are excluded from the institutions in which

society expects them to participate. Yet these institutions (school and work)

remain responsible for providing capacities and resources to young people

to enter into adult life and the means to achieve autonomy and

independence.

Youth is a period of transition and social integration. The acquisition of skills

and credentials through the education system, the beginning of a professional

career, the formation of a new family, the search for an identity, and social recog-

nition as an adult member of society are some of the transitions that define this

stage of life. These trajectories will be affected by the periods of exclusion, and

we explore those dynamics in this article.

This article focuses on young people ranging from 15 to 29 years old in Brazil

(according to Youth Statute, Federal Law 12852/2013) who do not work or search

for work; that is, they are inactive and are not enrolled in an educational institu-

tion. The purpose of our investigation is to identify socioeconomic heterogeneity

in the NEET category, arguing that there are subgroups inside the category that

represent different social conditions, both in their determinants and in the con-

sequences of absences from the labor market and school. The article is divided

into two parts: an extensive literature review on the determinants of NEET, relat-

ing the status to structural class, race, and gender issues; and a second part in

which NEET heterogeneity in Brazil is illustrated by exploratory statistics. It is

necessary to consider socioeconomic differences among young people labeled as

NEET to highlight the diversity and heterogeneity of social phenomena that

occur under this label.

There are around seven million young NEETs in Brazil (IBGE 2014). The

country faces high disparities in income distribution and considerable social

inequality. This context provided the rationale for our research: are all NEET

youths in Brazil in a condition of social and economic vulnerability? The