Mapping social landscapes: Youth NEET risk and social issues in Europe – A systematic literature review

Abstract

Introduction

The 40 million young people’s lack of successful transition from the education system to the labour market across Europe has a major focus. This systematic review of literature document social risk factors associated with NEET status in Europe.

Methods

A systematic literature search was conducted in four databases on February 21, 2023, with an update on January 15, 2024.

Results

A total of 98 articles included. Multiple social risk factors were associated with NEET status and divided into three spheres: factors related to the parental influence, the environment circumstance, and the individual factors.

Conclusions

Lacking a robust sense of self and limited self-efficacy, growing up in unstable home environment, having parents with low educational or labour market attainment are associated with significantly increased risk of NEET. Performing or behaving poorly in school and risk behaviour such as crime and substance use are also correlated with NEET status.

Introduction

In recent years, policymakers worldwide have increasingly expressed concern about the issue of young individuals disengaged from education or employment. The term ‘NEET’ has emerged to categorize these young people aged 15 to 29 who are Not in Education, Employment, or Training (OECD, 2024). In 2015, the number of adolescents in the NEET group in The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries reached approximately 40 million, with a staggering two-thirds of them, totalling 28 million individuals, being inactive and not actively seeking employment (OECD, 2016).

This demographic not only poses a fiscal challenge for policymakers due to strains on public budgets and reduced income tax contributions but also raises significant social and health-related concerns. Research has consistently demonstrated adverse effects on well-being, health, and social trust among NEET individuals (Azzollini, 2023; Howley and Knight, 2022; Krug and Eberl, 2018).

Furthermore, certain demographic groups are disproportionately affected by NEET status. For instance, individuals with lower levels of education or immigrant backgrounds face heightened risks of becoming NEET compared to their counterparts (Eurofond et al., 2012). Family background also plays a significant role in shaping these trends. There is an urgent need for policymakers to identify factors influencing the risk of ending up in NEET status to develop targeted interventions that support successful transitions into education and employment. Based on the above mentioned the literature through a systematic review process was compiled to ensure a comprehensive synthesis of existing research, providing a solid foundation for understanding the current state of knowledge on the topic and informing future research directions. Therefore, this review aims to identify studies documenting social factors influencing whether young people end up in the NEET group.

Methods

The framework of this article was crafted with inspiration from the PRISMA-ScR Checklist outlined by Tricco et al. (Tricco et al., 2018). Within a comprehensive report comprising four reviews, this specific systematic literature search investigates the social, psychological, physical, and geographical factors influencing young individuals’ completion of education or entry into the labour market, thus leading to their inclusion in the NEET group. The basis of these reviews is grounded in a thorough literature search, detailed below.

Eligibility criteria

To establish precise inclusion criteria for this literature search, the PCC (participants, concept, and context) approach was employed (Pollock et al., 2023). Inclusion criteria encompassed studies including young individuals aged 15 to 29 years classified as NEETs according to Eurostat’s definition (OECD, 2024). The NEET concept included young people not currently employed and who had never entered the workforce after completing compulsory education. This included individuals who had not commenced secondary school within the preceding 4 weeks or had not completed secondary school and were not working or undergoing training. Data collection for the study had to occur in one of the 43 European countries defined by the European Commission (European Commission, 2024). Only primary studies based on quantitative data were considered, with mixed methods studies necessitating distinguishable quantitative data. Articles in English, German, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish were included, while experimental studies were excluded to focus on naturally occurring risk factors.

Information sources and search strategy

Systematic literature searches were conducted in Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and Scopus on February 21, 2023, with an update on January 15, 2024. Search terms included young people or synonyms for young people and the acronym NEET, opportunity youth, or disconnected youth, alongside terms related to work, employment, unemployment, education, and training. The search terms were combined with Boolean operators AND or OR (Grewal et al., 2016). Various search techniques, including proximity operators, controlled vocabulary thesaurus terms (e.g. medical subject headings – MeSH), and a free-text search of all synonyms and variations of the keyword, were employed. Additionally, searches were supplemented with forward citation searched in Citationchaser (Haddaway et al., 2021). The search strategies have been peer reviewed by a specialist medical librarian outside the author group and the search strategies from all databases are illustrated in figure 1.

Selection and data extraction process

The selection process was divided into two rounds. Initially, all authors independently screened studies based on title and abstract in Covidence®, excluding studies not conducted in a European country. The first round required only one author to make an exclusion decision. Subsequently, authors independently screened records in Covidence® according to the inclusion criteria. The second round, firstly, required two authors to decide whether studies should be included or excluded based on the title and abstract. Disagreements in the screening process were discussed and resolved through consensus among all authors. Secondly, authors VL and DM collaborated on full-text screening, with disagreements resolved by consensus within the author group. Information about author(s), year of publication, title, aim(s) of the study, participants including number of participants, age and nationality, study design, and main findings was extracted from studies and charted by authors VL and DM. Whenever there were doubts about the findings, all the authors discussed it and came to consensus. We employed an inductive methodology to categorize the findings. First, we developed a coding framework, and secondly, we created overarching themes. In instances where multiple studies investigated the same social risk factor, we condensed and presented the results collectively in the results section. (Pollock et al., 2023).

Results

The authors systematically and comprehensively searched the literature following the methods outlined above to identify pertinent articles. The initial search strategy yielded 51,126 studies. After removing duplicates, 33,314 studies underwent independent screening based on title and abstract, of which 32,655 were deemed irrelevant. Subsequently, 659 studies underwent full-text screening, with 434 studies excluded and three studies could not be retrieved. Consequently, 222 studies were further scrutinized for the possibility of data extraction relevant for this review which left us with 79 relevant articles for this review. An additional 19 studies were identified through citation searches and the updated search (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Flow diagram of screening process.

As documented in Table 1 a total of 98 articles were included in this review. The interest in the subject has notably increased, with 20 articles published in 2023, bringing the total to 41 from 2020 onwards. This contrasts with 47 articles published between 2010 and 2019 and a mere ten before 2010, with none before 2000.

Table 1.

Summary of study details and population (sorted after publication year).

Author(s), year	Title	Aim(s) of the study	Participants; number, age, and nationality	Study design	Main findings
Baalbergen and Jaspers (2023)	Social Capital and its Returns as an Explanation for Early Labor Market Success off Majority and Minority Members in the Netherlands	Whether social capital can explain differences in labour market success between ethnic majority and minority members	2574 adolescents. Data were collected at 14 years old and last time 21 years old	Cohort	Ethnic majority and minority members do not differ in social capital, thus refuting the capital deficit hypothesis. However, for majority members, the upper reachability of their social capital negatively affects chances of unemployment and positively affect chances of having a permanent contract. For minority members, no such effects were observed, indicating that the same level of social capital that benefits majorities, does not benefit minorities
			- Netherlands
De Vries et al. (2023)	Associations between type of childhood adversities and labour market participation and employment conditions in young adults	The differences in exposure to 14 adverse experiences among groups of young adults aged 22 characterized by distinct labour market participation states and employment conditions	1524 adolescents aged 22	Cohort	Inactive individuals, often neither in education nor employment (98.6%) and on benefits (94.4%), were more likely to be exposed to many distinct types of adverse experiences (e.g. parental addiction, bullying victimization) as compared with all other groups
			- Netherlands
Djinovic and Giannakopoulos (2023)	Home computer ownership and educational outcomes of adolescents in Greece	The impact of home computer ownership on educational outcomes during adolescence	7715 children aged 14–18	Survey	Those without computer access have a 10-percentage point higher probability of dropping out of school compared to those with access
			- Greece
Essadek et al. (2023)	Alcohol and psychoactive substance use in a cohort of children followed by child protection in France	To explore the association between substance, use and psychological symptoms	848 adolescents 15-19 years. 72 with substance use and 776 without substance use	Cohort	Children who are in child protection services and who use psychoactive substances are at greater risk of dropping out of school
			- France
Fabi et al. (2023)	Quantitative Assessment of High School Student´s Poly-drug Use: Related Social Aspects and School Dropout	Differences between disorder groups and gender	5-6000 observations in the year 2012–2015 and 2800 observations in 2016. The included participants are 15–19 years	Cohort	A link between poly-drug use at age 15–16 and school dropout
			- Italy
Finkenauer et al. (2023)	Examining the role of civic attitudes in the link between family wealth and school dropout among tertiary vocational students	Explore the association between substance use during adolescence, diverse forms of child maltreatment, and psychological symptoms	1231 adolescents mean age 17.81 and 56.7% female	Cohort	Financial scarcity predicted dropout.
			- Netherlands		Financial scarcity showed an indirect only effect on dropout through lower institutional trust, but not through system justification.
					Trust in teachers was neither associated with dropout, nor a moderator
Haddad et al. (2023)	The association between substance use and subsequent employment among students: prospective findings from the CONSTANCES cohort	Correlation between high-risk drug use of high school students and school dropout	1427 students who never worked between 2012 and 2018 and were followed-up for 2.1 years on average	Cohort	Tobacco use was not significantly associated with employment.
			- France		Cannabis use at least weekly was associated with increased odds of being unemployed
Kahlmeter (2023)	Severe violent victimization and labour market exclusion: The significance of the victim–offender overlap	To examine the relationship between violent victimization and labour market exclusion	1,258,152 young adults born 1975–1986 and observed from they were 20 till 24 years	Cohort	Women who have been victims of violent crime face elevated risks of labour exclusion, in both the short and the long run, and regardless of criminal offending. Men, on the other hand, display no excess risk of labour market exclusion in the absence of violent offending.
			- Sweden		Male violent offenders, however, victimization adds to the risk of labour market exclusion
Karhina et al. (2023)	Parental separation and school dropout in adolescence	Prospectively associations between substance use and subsequent employment among young students	8323 aged 16–19 years	Survey	Adolescents with separated parents are at higher risk for not completing secondary education.
			- Norway		Parental education and disposable income accounted for most of the explained differences in school dropout between the groups.
					The link between parental separation and school dropout is complex and likely influenced by multiple factors
Karsberg et al. (2023)	Do adverse experiences predict unemployment and need of psychiatric help after treatment for drug use disorders?	Examined the association between adverse experiences (physical abuse, sexual abuse and parental substance use problems and the risk of NEET	580 adolescents and early adults aged 15–25 years enrolled in treatment for drug use disorders	Cohort	More than half of the participants were NEET 2 years after treatment enrolment.
			- Denmark		NEET was predicted by parental substance use problems exposure to physical abuse and non-abstinence.
					Being exposed to two and three types of adverse experiences predicted NEET more strongly than exposure to one type
Minh et al. (2023)	The role of low educational attainment on the pathway from adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems to early adult labour market disconnection in the Dutch TRAILS cohort	Examines the relationship between educational attainment mediates the association between mental health and NEET status	1197 adolescents aged 22 and 26 years	Cohort	No evidence of mediation was observed for the relationship between adolescent internalizing symptoms and NEET in either gender.
			- Netherlands		Adolescent externalizing symptoms disrupts the achievement of a basic educational qualification, leading to a higher probability of NEET in young men
Mussida and Sciulli (2023)	Being poor and being NEET in Europe: Are these two sides of the same coin?	Explore the possible relation between at-risk-of-poverty and NEET	Data from the longitudinal sample of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for the 2016–2019 period	Cohort	For young NEETs living outside of the family of origin, the NEET condition is not detrimental for poverty, conditional on the provision of adequate youth support
			- EU
Odoardi et al. (2023)	Gender disparities between young and adult NEETs: do we need a more refined policy approach?	The association between the probability of being NEET and a set of individual and regional (socioeconomic and institutional) characteristics, examining whether and to what extent the role of these determinants varies depending on gender	40,833 adolescents aged 15–24 years	Cohort	Social/family obligations affect men and women differently, to the detriment of women, and that this disparity widens with age.
			- Italy		The contrast between the position of men and women within marriage is empirically confirmed and perfectly captured by marginal effects with opposite signs
Pasanen et al. (2023)	Educational attainment and employment of young adults ageing out of care: A registry study based on the Finnish birth cohort 1987	Assess known risk factors for low education and unstable employment and their interaction with ageing out of care, controlling for birth-home-related adversities	59,476 adolescents’ data collected at age 28/29 years (48,5% females)	Cohort	Obtaining upper secondary and higher education was much less likely among those ageing out of care
			- Finland
Pisinger et al. (2023)	Perceived parental alcohol problems and later dropout and grade point average in high school: A register-based follow-up study	Have young people with perceived parental alcohol problems higher dropout rates in high school and lower grade point average at graduation compared to young people without perceived parental alcohol problems	62,171 adolescents in secondary education	Cohort	Perceived parental alcohol problems were associated with higher incidence rate ratio of dropout and lower grades within all categories of the socioeconomic factors
			- Denmark
Plenty and la Roi (2023)	Peer acceptance and rejection during secondary school: Do associations with subsequent educational outcomes vary by socioeconomic background?	Aim to identify a) the extent to which peer acceptance and rejection are associated with subsequent grades and school completion and b) whether these associations are contingent upon youth’s socioeconomic background	4996 youth (50% females, 19% migration background) – data were collected at age 14-15, 16 and 20 years		Peer acceptance correlated positively with grades and upper-secondary school completion
			- Sweden	Cohort
Salminen and Lehti (2023)	Parental background and daughters’ and sons’ educational outcomes – application of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis	Explain the differences in daughters’ and sons’ educational outcomes by parental background	624,658 adolescents	Cohort	In families with low parental education or income daughters have lower probability for school dropout and enrol more likely to academic school track related to sons of the same family
			- Finland
Stundziene and Giziene (2023)	Determinants of Young People with Secondary Education Being Employed	Find out the main factors that determine whether young people with secondary education are employed or not in Lithuania	243 Young Lithuanian people aged 18–25 and high school students or graduates	Survey	The model showed that temporary and full-time jobs reduce the probability of being employed; meanwhile, the opportunity to work remotely and greater satisfaction with other work conditions increases the probability of employment
			- Lithuania
Winding et al. (2023)	Perceived stress in adolescence and labour market participation in young adulthood – a prospective cohort study	To examine the association between perceived stress during adolescence and labour market participation in young men and women in early adulthood	3038 participants born in 1989 was followed from age 15 to age 28	Survey	Consistent associations between perceived stress from age 15 to age 21 and low labour market participation from age 25 to age 29 in both women and men.
			- Denmark		The strongest associations between perceived stress and low labour market participation were seen among men who reported stress several times during adolescence
Yigit et al. (2023)	NEET in Turkey: a typology including jobless youths, parental education and employment status as determinant	Improve understanding of the role of the family as NEET determinants in a country with free education	88 974 adolescents aged 15–24 years	Cohort	The age factor (20–24) and long-term unemployment in men and marital status in women are of critical importance for the risk of being NEET.
			-Turkey		Compulsory education is the most influential factor in reducing the risk of NEET for both genders.
					High education level of parents decreased the probability of NEET.
					The gains of mothers after compulsory education (university, postgraduate education) increased the probability of young people in the household being NEET compared to the education levels of fathers
Burdzovic Andreas et al. (2022)	Parental binge drinking and offspring’s high school non-completion: A prospective HUNT survey and educational registry study	Examine parental drinking as a risk factor of NEET and whether its effects may vary across offspring characteristics such as gender, academic orientation and performance, anxiety and depression, drinking, and witnessing of parental intoxication during adolescence	3101 offspring participants (age 16.1 years, 49.5% girls)	Cohort	Weekly or more frequent binge drinking in fathers negatively affected high school graduation prospects in their offspring
			- Norway
Cahill et al. (2022)	The validity of the residuals approach to measuring resilience to adverse childhood experiences	The construct and predictive validity of the residuals approach using participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a multigenerational, longitudinal cohort study	14,694 participants at age 17–23 years - UK	Cohort	Emotional neglect in adolescence has significant association, with an increase of NEET status at 17 years of age.
					No significant interactions between ACEs and resilience.
					Resilience significantly predicted a reduction in depressive symptoms at 18 years, and significantly decreased the likelihood of having NEET status at both 17 years and 23 years, even after taking into account early childhood adversity and other risk factors
Dicks et al. (2022)	How Young Mothers Rely on Kin Networks and Formal Childcare to Avoid Becoming NEET in the Netherlands	Investigate how the chances of young mothers to become and stay NEET around the time of first birth are related to the availability and characteristics of members of their social support network, especially partners and grandparents, to assist in childcare	31,938 young mothers	Cohort	Young mothers who are cohabitating or married are less likely to become NEETs than single mothers.
			- Netherlands		Economic activity and relative wage of both young mothers and their partners decreases the likelihood to become NEET and to exit NEET.
					Having more grandparents live in the immediate vicinity is associated with a lower likelihood to become NEET and a higher likelihood to exit NEET.
					Young mothers with economically inactive parents are more likely to become and less likely to exit NEET
Gladwell et al. (2022)	Predictors of becoming not in education, employment or training: A dynamic comparison of the direct and indirect determinants	To examine various determinants of NEET status such as educational achievements, non-cognitive skills, family socioeconomic factors, aspirations, mental health and labour market conditions	15,770 young people in secondary schools, born between September 1989 and August 1990. The survey was conducted annually, from age 14 to 18 years.	Survey	Cognitive ability (as measured by educational achievements) remains the key predictor of NEET status.
			A final sample of 6385 participants (50,4% female) answered all five surveys		A range of individual and family factors determines NEET status, the impact of most of these factors is largely indirect, through ability formation and not necessarily direct
			- UK
Meißner et al. (2022)	Associations Between Mental Health Problems in Adolescence and Educational Attainment in Early Adulthood: Results of the German Longitudinal BELLA Study	Externalizing and internalizing Mental Health Problems (MHP) among adolescents simultaneously and examined their effects on the attained level of education, failure to attain the expected level of education, and dropout from vocational or academic training	433 adolescents, 54.7% female and with baseline assessment at age 7–17 and follow-up 6 years after	Cohort	Externalizing mental health problems predict a lower level of education. Parental education and its downstream effects on offspring’s education, the need to already apply prevention measures in adolescence, and to choose the school setting as a central location for implementation
			- Germany
Tayfur et al. (2022)	Associations between Adolescent Psychosocial Factors and Disengagement from Education and Employment in Young Adulthood among Individuals with Common Mental Health Problems	To examine associations between adolescent psychosocial factors (e.g. self-esteem, aspirations, bullying, physical activity) and later NEET status among individuals with common mental health problems (i.e. depression and anxiety)	2224 participants which 1473 (66.2%) were 15 years and 751 (33.8%) were 16 years. 66.8% were females	Cohort	Lower self-esteem, external locus of control, low/no physical activity, and no job aspirations in adolescence were associated with an increased likelihood of being in NEET status as young adults whereas positive attitudes toward school and not being bullied were associated with a decreased likelihood for being in this status
			- UK
Barth et al. (2021)	NEET Status and Early Versus Later Skills Among Young Adults: Evidence From Linked Register-PIAAC Data	Do skills protect against exclusion in adult ages, and how important are the skills acquired before the age of 16 years versus those acquired later on?	Young people age group 16–24 years – Several European countries, approximately 5000 from Norway	Survey	Early skills protect more than later skills against NEET
Chen et al. (2021)	Associations between Multimorbidity Patterns and Subsequent Labor Market Marginalization among Refugees and Swedish-Born Young Adults – a Nationwide Registered-Based Cohort Study	Multimorbidity networks and specific diagnoses in networks that are associated with labour market marginalization (LMM) in refugee and Swedish-born young adults	41,516 refugee young adults matched with 207 729 Swedish-born young adults, were then followed for measures of labour market marginalization. Mean age 22.6 years and 53% female	Cohort	Multimorbidity related similarly to LMM in refugees and Swedish-born youth, but different diagnoses drove these associations
			- Sweden
Fleming et al. (2020)	Educational and health outcomes of schoolchildren in local authority care in Scotland: A retrospective record linkage study	To compare educational and health outcomes for children looked after away from home with peers	715,111 attending school between 2009 and 2012. 13 898 were children looked after away from home - Scotland	Cohort	Children looked after away from home were more likely to be unemployed after leaving school compared to children looked after at home
Holmes et al. (2021)	What accounts for the changes in the chances of being NEET in the UK?	Which characteristics are associated with a higher chance of being NEET, and how the importance of these drivers has changed over time	Participants between the age of 16 and 29 between 1975 and 2015	Cohort	Being a parent increases NEET risks for women of all ages and particular for younger women
			- UK
Billeskov et al. (2020)	Coping strategies in adolescence and labour-market participation in young adulthood: A prospective birth cohort study	Whether coping strategies in adolescence (14–15 years of age) were associated with labour-market participation (LMP) in young adulthood (25–26 years of age	2826 individuals (50.4% female) born in 1989 and at the age of 14-15 years in April 2004	Cohort	Coping is associated with future labour-market participation (LMP)
			- Denmark
Campbell et al. (2020)	Multiple risk behaviour in adolescence is associated with substantial adverse health and social outcomes in early adulthood: Findings from a prospective birth cohort study	The association between multiple risk behaviours at age 16 years and outcomes in early adulthood	5591 young people at the age of or aged ∼18 years - UK	Cohort	Strong associations between multiple risk behaviour, depression, anxiety, problem gambling, getting into trouble with the police, harmful drinking, obesity and not in education, employment or training (NEET) at age 18 years
Giret et al. (2020)	School-to-work transition in France: the role of education in escaping long-term NEET trajectories	Analyze the school-to-work transition of young people in France, focussing specifically on those who are not in employment, education or training (so-called NEETs), in order to understand their risk of becoming and remaining NEET	30,049 young people with the age of 15–26 years when leaving the educational system – data were collected 3 years after leaving school	Cohort	Less than 10% have a father or a mother in a professional position (versus 20% of the population), and only 39% have both parents in employment at the end of their studies versus more than the half in the other groups. Similarly, they are more likely to live in an economically disadvantaged area at the end of their studies if they belong to the NEET group.
			- France		Wishing to enter working life, having reached the desired level of education all have positive effects on the probability of being NEET
Hegelund et al. (2020)	The Modifying Influence of Family Social Background on the Association Between IQ and Unsuccessful Educational and Occupational Achievement A Register-Based Study of 277,938 Men in Denmark 1981–2016	Whether and how family social background modified the association between intelligence and unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement in young adults	277,938 men in the age of 25 and 30 years	Cohort	Family social background modified the associations of IQ with risk of no youth education at age 25 and gross income at age 30
			- Denmark
Heikkala et al. (2020)	Accumulated unhealthy behaviours and psychosocial problems in adolescence are associated with labour market exclusion in early adulthood – a northern Finland birth cohort 1986 study	To explore whether adolescents’ accumulated unhealthy behaviours and psychosocial problems are associated with later labour market exclusion	6692 adolescents aged 15/16 years and with follow-up at 25 and 29 years	Cohort	Groups of adolescents with unhealthy behaviours and psychosocial problems were at a significantly higher risk of future exclusion from the labour market
			- Finland
Huegaerts et al. (2020)	Is Mental Health a Predictor for a Smooth School-to-Work-Transition? A 20-Month Follow-Up Study of Brussels Youth	Investigates the association between forms of capital and mental health among unemployed youth, with a specific focus on the mediating role of feelings of deprivation and self-esteem as ‘mechanics of embodiment’	540 youth (53% female) in the transition from education to employment at 18- to 29-year-olds; and with follow-up data of 20 months between 2015 and 2017	Cohort	Different forms of capital are related to mental health of unemployed men and these associations are partly mediated by feelings of deprivation and self-esteem. Men in ‘delayed employment’ had significantly poorer mental health than those in stable employment
			- Belgium
Jensen et al. (2020)	Psychological resources in adolescence and the association with labour market participation in early adulthood: a prospective cohort study	Associations between self-esteem, sense of coherence or mastery at age 15 and 18 and labour market participation (LMP) in early adulthood at age 25–29	2982 young people, 25–29 years	Cohort	Associations are indicated between a high level of sense of coherence or mastery in adolescence and high labour market participation in early adulthood.
			- Denmark		Psychological resources seemed to play a bigger role for females in early adolescence compared to males, for whom a larger impact was seen in late adolescence
Karyda (2020)	The influence of neighbourhood crime on young people becoming not in education, employment or training	The direct association between crime in the neighbourhood and young people’s transitions	8931 young people born in 1989/90 data were collected from 2004 (wave 1, young people in Year 9, age 13) to 2010 (wave 7, young people age 19)	Cohort	Low attainment at and exposure to aggressive behaviour in school increased the chances of entry into NEET by 1.35 times. Antisocial behaviour was related to the NEET experience; police involvement for the young person’s behaviour doubled the odds of entry into NEET. Young people’s risky behaviour such as shoplifting and fighting was associated with 57% higher probability of experiencing NEET
			- UK
Odoardi (2020)	Can parents’ education lay the foundation for reducing the inactivity of young people? A regional analysis of Italian NEETs	Aims to extend a specific aspect of the influence of family background on the state of inactivity with respect to education and work affecting young people	Not described	Cohort	Increase in the level of education of the adult population has a daunting effect on NEETs, and in particular, the tertiary education in the adult population (which should represent one of the best qualities related to managing young people’s education and advising them on training courses) has a major effect in enticing young Italians
			- Italy
Rodrigues (2020)	Skills and youth unemployment: Cross-country evidence from synthetic panel data	Estimates the effect of human capital on countries’ youth employment ratio by using country average scores from Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) end the unemployment ratio of the same birth cohort	26 European	Cohort	A standard deviation increase in reading literacy decreases the unemployment ratio by 1.2 percentage points
			OECD countries, 16–29 years
			- EU
Spångberg and Svensson (2020)	Associations Between Youth Unemployment and Underage Gambling in Europe	The associations between youth unemployment and youth engagement in gambling forms that have age limits, namely, slots, sports betting, and cards, both online and offline	81,229 16-year-old respondents - 30 European countries	Survey	Underage gambling was associated with a higher degree of adolescent unemployment
Amin et al. (2019)	Associations between adolescents social phobia sickness absence and unemployment: a prospective study of twins in Sweden	Associations between social phobia and unemployment or sickness absence	2845 twins were followed at age 8/9, 13/14, 16/17 and 19/20 years	Cohort	Factors shared by family members (i.e. genetics and shared childhood environment) seemed to play a role in the association between social phobia and unemployment
			- Sweden
Arifi et al. (2019)	Youth transition from school-to-work: Empirical evidence from five transition countries	The impact of different factors in the transition of young people aged 15 to 29 years from the school to work, with similar institutional and economic framework	2610 persons, aged 15–29 years	Cohort	Factors such as age, sex, financial situation of household, mother’s education and having working experience while studying have significance on the probability of a person being employed.
			- Eastern Europe		Factors such as field of education, living area and marital status does not influence
Bania et al. (2019)	Not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET) in an Arctic sociocultural context: the NAAHS cohort study	Prevalence and predictors of not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET) status in a multicultural young adult population	5877 youth aged 15–16 years (83% of the total age cohort from all 87 municipalities participated). The follow-up studies consisted of 3987 consent giving adolescents (68%), were 365 (9.2%) reported indigenous Sami ethnicity	Cohort	NEET status in young adulthood was significantly higher among females (20.9%) than among males (16.2%).
			- Norway		Ethnic differences occurred as being NEET among Sami males was significantly higher than among non-Sami males, 23.0% and 15.2% respectively.
					Minority Sami females experienced NEET status to a lower degree (16.6%) than non-Sami females (20.8%).
					Peer problems and conduct problems and in male adolescents were associated with later NEET status, whereas emotional problems among males predicted significantly less later NEET status. Lower parental education to be significantly associated with being NEET-later in young adults
Hällsten et al. (2019)	School’s out forever? Heavy metal preferences and higher education	Assess the social morphology of heavy metal preferences in terms of socioeconomic and socio-structural positions and the short term outcomes of being a heavy metal fan on education and health behaviours	2232 23-year-olds of native Swedish, Iranian, and Yugoslavian background	Survey	Preference for heavy metal is not structured by social background or neighbourhood context in Swedish adolescents.
			- Sweden		Poor school grades tend to make them more prone to like metal, but not of previous grades, social background, personality, personal network, and neighbourhood characteristics.
					Metal fans have substantially lower transition rates into higher education
Hammerton et al. (2019)	Childhood Behavioural Problems and Adverse Outcomes in Early Adulthood: a Comparison of Brazilian and British Birth Cohorts	Examine associations between childhood behavioural problems with criminal behaviour, emotional disorders, substance use and unemployment in early adulthood in two birth cohorts from a middle- and high-income country	5079 youth, age 22 and 24 years	Cohort	Children with ‘conduct problems’ (those with increased probability of all five behaviours at age 11) were at higher risk of criminal behaviour, emotional disorders and NEET in adulthood compared to those with ‘low problems’
			- UK
Haugan and Myhr (2019)	Residential Mobility, Family Structure, and Completion of Upper-Secondary Education – A Registry-Based Cohort Study of the Norwegian Adolescent Population	We investigate the interplay between the number of residential moves during late childhood, parental education level, family living situation, and the probability of completing upper-secondary education	121,247 individuals born 1982 to 1989	Cohort	Non-completion of secondary high school increases incrementally with the number of residential changes across all four family structures. Individuals in well-educated and intact families seems to be least affected by residential moves
			- Norway
Kääriälä et al. (2019)	From care to education and work? Education and employment trajectories in early adulthood by children in out-of-home care	To explore early adulthood education and employment trajectories among young adults who experienced out-of-home care during childhood and to examine how various care history factors predict these trajectories	59,476 individuals born in 1987 up to year 2012. Of these, 1893 individuals (3.2%) were placed in care before age 18	Cohort	Children in care were less likely to enter trajectories characterized by education and employment (38%) or long periods of fragmented social assistance benefit receipt and unemployment (21%)
			- Finland
Klug et al. (2019)	Trajectories of insecurity: Young adults’ employment entry, health and well-being	We explore trajectories of employment insecurity over 6 years after leaving education, and investigate their associations with sociodemographic predictors, self-reported health and life satisfaction	2752 education leavers – data collected at median age 23,55 and 28,65	Cohort	Low education and migration background are associated with long-term NEET status
			- Germany
Lallukka et al. (2019)	Determinants of long-term unemployment in early adulthood: A Finnish birth cohort study	We examined whether accumulation of the key life course social and health-related determinants is associated with long-term unemployment among young men and women considering the municipal level unemployment rate. An additional aim was to examine contributions of each individual determinants to the risk of unemployment in general and specifically, to the risk of long-term unemployment	46,521 children born in 1987 were followed-up through 2015 - Finland	Cohort	Both parental and own social and health-related factors were important determinants of subsequent long-term unemployment during early working life.
					Women and men with poor school performance were a high-risk group for long-term unemployment
Andersén et al. (2018)	The relationship between self-efficacy and transition to work or studies in young adults with disabilities	To investigate perceived self-efficacy in unemployed young adults with disabilities, and the association between self-efficacy and transition to work or studies	133 women (53%) and 116 men (47%); the mean age was 24 years	Cohort	A lower level of self-efficacy was associated with decreased odds for ‘transition to work’
			- Sweden
Doku et al. (2018)	Health and socioeconomic circumstances over three generations as predictors of youth unemployment trajectories	How socioeconomic circumstances of successive generations and familial and health factors in adolescence predict youth unemployment trajectories between ages 16 and 28 from 2000 to 2009	43,238 12 to 18 year-old linked with 1970–2009 registry-based data of their grandparents, parents and themselves	Cohort	Grandparents’ education, family socioeconomic circumstances and adolescents’ health and school achievement predict the developmental trajectory of youth unemployment
			- Finland		Youth unemployment is also related to low education in early adulthood
Hale and Viner (2018)	How adolescent health influences education and employment: investigating longitudinal associations and mechanisms	We examined associations between health in early adolescence and subsequent academic and employment outcomes, exploring potential mediators of these relationships to inform intervention strategies	8682 young pupils from 892 schools annually from 2004 when respondents were approximately 13 years old (n = 15 770) to 2011 when respondents were aged 19 years	Cohort	Social exclusion, school behaviour, truancy and substance use were significant mediators for mental and physical health that are predictors for poor subsequent education and employment status. Associations were similar for both sexes, and the size of associations was largely similar for all outcomes
			- England
Hegelund et al. (2020)	Low IQ as a predictor of unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement: A register-based study of 1,098,742 men in Denmark 1968–2016	Investigated the role of IQ in predicting a wide range of indicators of unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement among young men born across five decades	1,098,742 men age 25 years	Cohort	The results showed that low IQ was a strong and consistent predictor of all indicators of unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement
			- Denmark
Hetlevik et al. (2018)	GP-diagnosed internalizing and externalizing problems and dropout from secondary school: a cross-sectional study	To examine the risk for not finishing secondary education by age 20 when mental health problems were diagnosed during general practitioner (GP) consultations	63,970 15–20 years	Cross-sectional	Dropout was related to both internalizing and externalizing problems.
			- Norway
					The highest absolute risk for dropout was found for boys and girls who have both externalizing and internalizing problems
Holen et al. (2018)	A Chance Lost in the Prevention of School Dropout? Teacher–Student Relationships Mediate the Effect of Mental Health Problems on Non-completion of Upper-Secondary School	To investigate teacher–student relationship as a possible mechanism to reduce the associations between mental health problems, grades, and subsequent non-completion	10,931 aged 15–16 years	Cohort	Teacher-student relationship is a potential mechanism to reduce the negative associations between mental health problems and later non-completion.
			- Norway		Students with mental health problems seemed to experience less supportive teachers.
					The patterns were similar between genders
Jaffee et al. (2018)	Childhood Maltreatment Predicts Poor Economic and Educational Outcomes in the Transition to Adulthood	To test whether childhood maltreatment was a predictor of (1) having low educational qualifications and (2) not being in education, employment, or training among young adults	2232 twins born in 1994 to 1995. Mothers reported on child maltreatment when participants were aged 5, 7, 10, and 12 years. Participants were interviewed about their vocational status at age 18 years	Cohort	Having low educational qualifications or of not being in education, employment, or training at age 18 years were more than 2 times greater for young people with a childhood history of maltreatment versus those without.
			- UK		These associations were reduced after adjustments for individual and family characteristics.
					Youths who reported having a supportive adult in their lives had better education outcomes than youths who had less support
Kääriälä et al. (2018)	Early school leaving by children in out-of-home care: A comparative study of three Nordic countries	Comparing the association between children’s exposure to placement in care and lack of secondary education (i.e. post-compulsory education after age 16) across three Nordic countries	215,002 persons born in 1987 were followed till they turned 23 years	Cohort	Children placed in care had a significantly higher risk for early school leaving.
			- Denmark, Finland, Sweden		Young adults who experienced out-of-home care were 24 to 39 percentage points more likely than their peers never in care to have not completed secondary education
					Those placed in care for the first time at teenage were the most likely to have low attainment
Andrade and Järvinen (2017)	More risky for some than others: negative life events among young risk-takers	Examine how early risk behaviours are related to subsequent negative life events among young men and women from different socioeconomic backgrounds	1439 young (age 15 years, 51.1% female)	Cohort	For young people from upper middle-class families, early risk behaviours are not associated with subsequent negative life events including being NEET.
			- Denmark		For young people from less privileged backgrounds, early experimentation with alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis and sex is a clear predictor of negative events later in life.
					The association between early risk behaviours and subsequent negative life events is stronger for young men than for young women
Doebler et al. (2017)	Does the Month of Birth Affect Educational and Health Outcomes? A Population-Based Analysis Using the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study	To tests whether long-term educational and health disadvantages of individuals born just before the start of school year cut-off date of July 1st exist in Northern Ireland	36,087 born between 1983 and 1989. Data collected at age 12 to 18 years old and at age 22 to 28 years	Cohort	Findings indicate no educational or health disadvantages over a decade for individuals born in May and June
			- Ireland
Gustafsson et al. (2017)	Why Do Some Young Adults not Graduate From Upper-Secondary School? On the Importance of Signals of Labour Market Failure	We study factors associated with not graduating from upper-secondary school at age 21	All individuals who were born in 1985 and who lived in a metropolitan area in 2001 – data were collected at age 21	Cohort	If someone in the parental household had a post-secondary education but the household nevertheless received social assistance, the probability that the young person did not graduate from upper-secondary school was substantially larger.
			- Sweden		The probability that the young person did not graduate from upper-secondary school increased substantially with the proportion of adult persons with a post-secondary education who receive unemployment benefits or social assistance in the neighbourhood.
					High rates of not having graduated from upper-secondary school among children of immigrants are linked to labour market exclusion among adults who could otherwise have been positive examples of the value of education, not to the immigrant background per se
Haapakorva et al. (2017)	The impact of parental employment trajectories on children’s early adult education and employment trajectories in the Finnish Birth Cohort 1987	To identify the most significant early adult trajectories in an entire Finnish birth cohort born in 1987, using rich sequential register data, with sequence analysis and clustering methods	All young people born in 1987 data were collected at age 18–25 years	Cohort	Disadvantageous trajectories were mostly very lasting.
			- Finland		Found strong connections between parents’ disadvantages in the labour market and children’s disadvantageous early adulthood trajectories, even when adjusting for strong background variables.
					The strongest connections arise from parents’ long absences from the labour market
Martin (2017)	Social capital, friendship networks, and youth unemployment	The effect of social capital on unemployment risk	1590 Swedish, Iranian and Yugoslavian origin born in 1990	Cohort	Unemployment is found to be strongly associated with friends’ unemployment among individuals of Yugoslavian origins and individuals of Swedish origin, but not Iranian origin
			- Sweden		Occupational contact networks reduce unemployment risks for all groups, but especially so for Iranians
Myhr et al. (2017)	Do family and neighbourhood matter in secondary school completion? A multilevel study of determinants and their interactions in a life-course perspective	To investigate the variation and clustering of school completion in families and neighbourhoods, to examine the impact of individuals’ family structure and neighbourhood of residence and examine to what extent parental education level moderates these associations	107,003 aged 21–27 years in 2010	Cohort	Completion rates were significantly higher within families with higher education level and were strongly correlated within families.
			- Norway		Family disruption, large family size, and young maternal age was negatively associated with school completion
Schoon and Lyons-Amos (2017)	A socio-ecological model of agency: The role of structure and agency in shaping education and employment transitions in England	To what extent are young people able to steer the course of their lives despite the constraining forces of social structure, and how satisfied are they with their lives following the completion of compulsory schooling	9558 young people (49% female) born between 1st September 1989 and 31st August 1990 and with data at the age of 19/20 years	Cohort	Young people growing up in families experiencing cumulative socioeconomic risk or who were living in relatively disadvantaged areas were more likely to show an early work orientation, were unemployed after some further education, or NEET.
			- UK		Those with higher goal certainty were less likely to be in vocational training, NEET after some further education or long-term NEET.
					Those with high levels of school engagement were less likely to show an early work focus or were long-term NEET
Baumann et al. (2016)	Health-Related Quality of Life into Adulthood After Very Preterm Birth	2) association between self-efficacy and transition to work or studies	260 very preterm or very low birth weight and 229 term born individuals. Data were collected at 13 and 26 years	Cohort	Those born very preterm perceive their HRQL as lower than their parents and as poorer than term born controls in adolescence and adulthood.
			- Germany		Lower HRQL is related to lower economic functioning and poorer social relationships with peers and partners
Bertogg and Szydlik (2016)	The Closeness of Young Adults’ Relationships with Their Parents	How close are the relationships between young adults and their parents today?	2226 participants age 26 years	Survey	Unemployed young adults in particular, but also young adults who are not economically active and those in education, much more frequently perceive their relationships with their parents to be less close than their peers in employment
			- Switzerland
Goldman‐Mellor et al. (2016)	Committed to work but vulnerable: self-perceptions and mental health in NEET 18-year olds from a contemporary British cohort	Establish the causal direction of any link between NEET status and mental health	2232 twins born in 1994–1995	Cohort	NEET youths were significantly more likely than their non-NEET peers to come from families of low social economic status and poor neighbourhoods
			- UK
Hakkarainen et al. (2013)	The impact of learning difficulties and socioemotional and behavioural problems on transition to post-secondary education or work life in Finland: a 5-year follow-up study	The effects of mathematical and reading difficulties and socioemotional and behavioural problems	597 (50,9% female) at 9th grade and followed for 5 years	Cohort	Mathematical and reading difficulties as well as socioemotional and behavioural problems had significant long-term effects on the participants’ educational careers.
		1a) delayed graduation from upper-secondary education	- Finland		Mathematical difficulties, more strongly than reading difficulties, caused the students to attain lower levels of education.
		1b) short educational trajectory			Mathematical difficulties and socioemotional problems predicted a student ending up in the NEET group
		1c) not being engaged in education, employment, or training (NEET)			Reading difficulties and behavioural problems predicted delayed graduation from upper-secondary education
Alfieri et al. (2015)	Young Italian NEETs (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) and the Influence of Their Family Background	The relationship between family variables (parents’ educational level, relationship quality, intrusiveness, support, and autonomy)	9087 young between 18 and 29 years - Italy	Cohort	Parents’ educational level and support have a protective effect on the risk of becoming a NEET for both genders.
		2) young Italians’ status as NEETs			Autonomy has a specific negative impact for males.
					Intrusiveness has a positive impact mainly for females
Arvidsson et al. (2015)	Post-school options for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden	To examine life after school for young adults with intellectual disabilities	12,269 individuals who graduated from Special Secondary School between 2001 and 2011. 41.8% were female	Cohort	24% of the sample were not in disability programs, not employed, did not attend any education, and were not engaged in any public labour market programs or registered as job-seekers
			- Sweden
Baggio et al. (2015)	Not in Education, Employment, or Training Status Among Young Swiss Men. Longitudinal Association with Mental Health and Substance Use	If NEET youth differ from other contemporaries in terms of personality, substance use, and mental health and	4758 young people in the age of 17.9–27.8 year	Cohort	Comparisons between NEET and non-NEET youth showed significant differences in substance use
		2) examination of NEET status, testing whether NEET status is a transient or a stable phenomenon, including prospective pathways between NEET status, mental health, and substance use to see if there were reinforcing factors for staying or becoming NEET	- Switzerland		Longitudinal associations showed that cannabis use, and daily smoking increased the likelihood of being NEET
Daly et al. (2015)	Childhood Self-Control and Unemployment Throughout the Life Span: Evidence From Two British Cohort Studies	To which self-control during childhood predicts spells of unemployment and the total amount of time people are unemployed throughout their working lives	4339 young people born in a week in 1970 – data were reported from age 21 and 26	Cohort	Low self-control in childhood was associated with the emergence and persistence of unemployment across four decades. On average, a 1-SD increase in self-control was associated with a reduction in the probability of unemployment of 1.4 percentage points after adjustment for intelligence, social class, and gender.
			- UK		From labour-market entry to middle age, individuals with low self-control experienced 1.6 times as many months of unemployment as those with high self-control
Heetman et al. (2015)	Preventive healthcare surveillance can detect emerging behavioural problems that are related to later school dropouts	To determine whether measurements used in preventive healthcare surveillance enabled us to detect internalizing and externalizing problems in relation to later school dropouts	301 dropouts and 270 nondropouts, who were aged 18–23 in 2008 were compared	Case-control	Early life symptoms of emerging behavioural problems, as detected by preventive healthcare surveillance, are related to later school dropout
			- Netherlands
Sadler and Akister (2015)	Who are the young people who are not in education, employment, or training? An application of the risk factors to a rural area in the UK	To examine the factors that may contribute to a young person becoming NEET and applies these to the demographics of a rural area in England	14,713 adolescents age 16–24 years	Descriptive study using existing literature and survey/census data	Poor educational attainment and low socioeconomic status are key factors, with the mental well-being of young people as a proposed underpinning mechanism
			- UK
Würtz et al. (2015)	Association between sense of coherence in adolescence and social benefits later in life: a 12-year follow-up study	To explore the association between a weak ‘sense of coherence’ (SOC) in teens and their subsequent risk of receiving social and healthcare benefits during young adulthood	773 pupils from seventh and eighth forms who answered a questionnaire in 1998	Cohort	Girls with a weak SOC-7 (the lowest 1st quartile) had a significantly increased risk of receiving unemployment benefits, social assistance and sickness benefits compared with girls with a strong SOC-7.
			- Denmark		For boys, only minor protective and non-significant differences were found
Bosma et al. (2014)	Low control beliefs in relation to school dropout and poor health: findings from the SIODO case–control study	To examine whether low control belief is related to a pathway towards adverse socioeconomic and health-related outcomes	330 young people aged between 18 and 23 years and compared to 330 controls who still attended school in 2010–2011	Case-control	Independent of the socioeconomic background, low control beliefs are related to heightened odds of both poor health and school dropout
			- Netherland		Individual differences in control beliefs might thus be as fundamental as socioeconomic conditions in generating life-course socioeconomic and health-related pathways
Branje et al. (2014)	Associations Among School and Friendship Identity in Adolescence and Romantic Relationships and Work in Emerging Adulthood	The interrelations between employment status and romantic relationship status, work and romantic relationship identity in emerging adulthood, and school and friendship identity in adolescence	735 16-year-old participants and 291 20-year-olds	Cohort	Employment status and romantic relationship status were significantly related to each other.
			- Netherland		Employment status was also significantly related to relational identity
					Relationship status was significantly related to work identity.
					Work and romantic relationship identity, but not employment status and romantic relationship status, could be predicted by school and friendship identity in adolescence
Dorsett and Lucchino (2014)	Explaining patterns in the school-to-work transition: An analysis using optimal matching	Achieving a richer understanding of individuals’ trajectories in the 5 years after reaching school leaving age	1352 individuals observed for five consecutive years starting from the month they could legally leave school	Survey	All at-risk trajectories are associated with a relatively small set of key ‘risk factors’: early pregnancy; low educational attainment and self-confidence; and disadvantaged family background
			- UK
Theunissen et al. (2015)	Are Barbie and Ken too cool for school? A case-control study on the relation between gender and dropout	To examine whether and how, beyond the well-known effects of sex, gender beliefs and self-reported masculinity and femininity are related to school dropout	330 dropout cases and 330 controls still attending school. The respondents, aged between 18 and 23 years	Case-control	Young women were less likely to drop out when they occupied an intermediate position on the gender variables.
			- Netherlands		Highly masculine women, feminine men and highly masculine men with strong normative masculine beliefs had higher risk of dropping out
Stiby et al. (2014)	Adolescent cannabis and tobacco use and educational outcomes at age 16: birth cohort study	The relationship between cannabis and tobacco use by age 15 and subsequent educational outcomes	1155 individuals age 16 years and with complete data on self-reported substance use and serum cotinine measurements	Cohort	Both cannabis and tobacco use at age 15 were associated with subsequent adverse educational outcomes
			- UK
Bask and Salmela-Aro (2013)	Burned out to drop out: Exploring the relationship between school burnout and school dropout	To scrutinize the relationship between school burnout and school dropout and the relationship between background variables and school dropout	878 pupils in 9th grade in 2004. Follow-up in 2005,2006 and 2009, at the ages of 16,17,18 and 21 years	Cohort	Those with a high level of cynicism were clearly more susceptible to dropout than those with a low level
			- Finland
Ridder et al. (2013)	Adolescent Health and High School Dropout: A Prospective Cohort Study of 9000 Norwegian Adolescents (The Young-HUNT)	The impact of family structure and neighbourhood on school completion	8950 school-attending adolescents age 13–21 years - Norway	Cohort	School dropout was strongly clustered within families
Fallesen (2013)	Time well spent: The duration of foster care and early adult labour market, educational, and health outcomes	1) to what extent are young people able to steer the course of their lives despite the constraining forces of social structure	7220 children 18–21 years	Cohort	Foster care duration correlates positively with passive welfare dependency.
			- Denmark		The likelihood of having an education above primary level also drops with 0.3% per extra year spent in foster care.
					The duration of foster care had poorer educational attainment in early adulthood than children who had shorter foster care durations
Hakkarainen et al. (2013)	Mathematical and Reading Difficulties as Predictors of School Achievement and Transition to Secondary Education	Whether mathematical and reading difficulties and self-reported learning problems predicted school achievement in the ninth grade, at the age of 16	592 (50.7% female) ninth-grade students	Cohort	Mathematical and reading difficulties strongly predicted school achievement in the ninth grade.
		2) how these difficulties further explained the transition either to upper-secondary academic education or to vocational education	- Finland		It also predicted the transition to different tracks in secondary education.
					Parents’ education did not play a major role in this prediction
Homlong et al. (2013)	Can use of healthcare services among 15–16-year-olds predict an increased level of high school dropout? A longitudinal community study	Associations between healthcare seeking in 15–16-year-olds and high school dropout 5 years later	13,964 10th grade secondary school students	Cohort	Adolescents who seek help at certain healthcare services can be at risk of dropping out of high school later
			- Norway
Duckworth and Schoon (2012)	Beating the odds: exploring the impact of social risk on young people’s school-to-work transitions during recession in the UK	Assesses the effect of multiple independent socioeconomic risk factors in shaping the transition from school to work	12,744 individuals (48% female) who have complete data at birth and work history data measured in early adulthood	Cohort	The results show that some young people exposed to even severe socioeconomic risks avoid being NEET. Factors that appear to reduce the cumulative risk effect to become NEET include prior attainment, educational aspirations and school engagement, as well as the social mix of the school environment
		2) identifies potential protective factors enabling young people to beat the odds	- UK
Gregg et al. (2012)	The Impact of Fathers’ Job Loss during the Recession of the 1980s on their Children’s Educational Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes	The causal impact of fathers’ job loss on their children’s educational attainment and later economic outcomes	All those born between the 5th and 11th of April 1970 - UK	Cohort	Fathers’ job loss during recessions impacts the educational attainment and early labour market experiences of their children
Blondal and Adalbjarnardottir (2014)	Parenting practices and school dropout: a longitudinal study	Adolescents’ perceptions of parenting style and parental involvement in their education were examined longitudinally and related to school dropout among Icelandic youth	427 youth aged 14 and 22 years	Cohort	Adolescents who, at age 14, characterized their parents as authoritative (showing acceptance and supervision) were more likely to have completed upper-secondary school by age 22.
			- Iceland		Parenting style seems to predict school dropout than parental involvement more strongly.
					Parenting style may moderate the relationship between parental involvement and dropout, but not in all groups.
					Only in authoritative families does parental involvement decrease the likelihood of school dropout.
					Adolescents from authoritative families were less likely to drop out than adolescents from authoritarian and neglectful families
Halmøy et al. (2009)	Occupational Outcome in Adult ADHD: Impact of Symptom Profile, Comorbid Psychiatric Problems, and Treatment	Determining the effects of symptom profile, comorbid psychiatric problems, and treatment on occupational outcome in adult ADHD patients	414 adults aged 18-24 years and diagnosed with ADHD (47.8% female) and 357 comparison group participants (58.8% female)	Cohort	Substance abuse in young diagnosed with ADHD was correlated with being out of work
			- Norway
Obradovic et al. (2010)	Influence of cannabis use trajectories, grade repetition and family background on the school dropout rate at the age of 17 years in France	Processes leading to school dropout at the end of the compulsory schooling period	29,393 teenagers aged 17 years	Cohort	The main factors associated with dropout were a low family socioeconomic status, early grade repetition, single-parent families and daily tobacco smoking.
			- France		Cannabis use is rarely a trigger for grade repetition but can have either damaging or positive effects on school attainment depending of the level of use
Jacob and Jacob (2008)	Unemployment benefits and parental resources: what helps the young unemployed with labour market integration?	How different resources affect the labour market integration of the young unemployed	3417 young between 15 and 24 years old	Cohort	The receipt of unemployment benefits but decreases with parental support.
			- Germany		Accordingly, benefits actually improve post-unemployment job tenure.
					Parental support functions rather as a ‘safety net’ enabling young people to quit a job
Anyadike-Danes and McVicar (2005)	You’ll never walk alone: Childhood influences and male career path clusters	Career paths for a cohort of 29-year-old males born in 1970	4994 males born in the week of 5th to 11th April 1970 aged 16 years and 29 years old	Cohort	Inactive or/and permanent unemployed are characterized by:
			- UK		Mental or physical health problems or disabilities. Ethnic minorities
					Fathers in social classes I/II
					Fathers unemployed at birth
					More likely to be born in the north
					To struggle at school
					Receive free school meals
					Suspension/exclusion from school and fewer qualifications
Kristensen et al. (2005)	Impact of life course determinants on work participation among young Norwegian men	To examine if the association between birthweight and subsequent unemployment was mediated by intellectual performance at conscript	158,026 male singletons born in 1967–1971 at age 29	Cohort	Birthweight, childhood disease and seven parental factors relating to income, disability, and family pattern, were independently associated with subsequent unemployment
			- Norway		Intellectual performance in young adult age, educational attainment, and marital status contributed substantially to the unemployment risk
Behtoui (2004)	Unequal Opportunities for Young People with Immigrant Backgrounds in the Swedish Labour Market	Investigates labour-market performance for ‘young people with immigrant backgrounds’ and those ‘born in Sweden with native-born parents’ in the Swedish labour market	22,401 young people who were aged 18–20 during 1990, and their labour-market status after 8 years, in 1998	Cohort	Young people of immigrant descent have lower annual wage income and are at higher risk of not being employed than those born in Sweden with native-born parents.
			- Sweden		Differences in human capital characteristics cannot explain these results.
					However, having a native-born father rather than a native-born mother is associated with better labour-market achievement
Kokko et al. (2003)	Child personality characteristics and selection into long-term unemployment in Finnish and Swedish longitudinal samples	1) if NEET youth differ from other contemporaries in terms of personality, substance use, and mental health and	313 Finnish youth age 26–27 years (48, 6% female) and 1393 Swedish youth age 26/27 years (49,0%)	Cohort	Low education was related to long-term unemployment, and explained by personality characteristics in middle childhood, such as low self-control of emotions or conduct problems, and behavioural inhibition or timidity.
			- Sweden and Finland		Childhood personality characteristics explained selection onto an educational track rather than selection into long-term unemployment, and length of education explained duration of unemployment
Bynner and Parsons (2002)	Social Exclusion and the Transition from School to Work: The Case of Young People Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET)	The relationship of NEET status to earlier educational achievement and circumstances and to assess the added difficulties NEET poses in relation to the building of adult identity capital	1623 individuals born during the week 5–11 April 1970 – data were collected at age 21 years	Cohort	Poor educational achievement is the major factor in entering NEET.
			- UK		Inner city living for boys and lack of parental interest in their education for girls are also important.
					For young men the consequences of NEET lie mainly in subsequent poor labour market experience.
					For young women, the majority of whom are teenage mothers, the damaging effects of NEET extend to the psychological domain as well
de Goede et al. (2000)	Family problems and youth unemployment	The extent to which family and personal characteristics relate to the employment situation of adolescents	955 youth aged 12 to 24 years in 1991 and between 18 and 27 years were analyzed	Cohort	Family factors included in this study are better predictors of youth unemployment than are the classic individual and personal variables
			- Netherlands		Parental divorce, parental unemployment (only for males), low parental affective involvement, and adolescent relationship problems were related to youth unemployment, but educational career and work commitment were not.
					For males, parental unemployment demonstrated the strongest correlation with youth unemployment.
					For females, only variables in the relational domain played a role in explaining unemployment; relationship variables were also important predictors of male unemployment

The distribution of articles by country is as follows: twenty from the UK, eleven from Norway, ten each from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, nine from the Netherlands, five from multiple European countries, four each from France, Italy, and Germany, two from Switzerland, and one each from Greece, Lithuania, Turkey, Scotland, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, and one study each with participants from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, and another with participants from Sweden and Finland.

The accumulated number of participants in the studies totals 4,028,376. Three studies reported all residents within a specific period without providing exact figures, while one study estimated approximately 5,000 participants.

The identified social risk factors were categorized in the subsequent text to explore the multifaceted influences on the educational attainment and employment status of young individuals. Through the lens of three overarching themes: parental influence, environmental circumstances, and individual factors, we examine the complex interplay of factors shaping their trajectories.

Parental influence

Multiple studies have explored the significance of parental factors on the educational attainment and employment status of young individuals. This includes parental separation, the presence of a single-parent household, as well as instances where parents have low educational levels or are unemployed. Additionally, substance use among parents, maltreatment of the child, and the quality of the parent-child relationship have all been identified as influential factors (Alfieri et al., 2015; Bania et al., 2019; Bertogg and Szydlik, 2016; Blondal and Adalbjarnardottir, 2014; de Goede et al., 2000; Dorsett and Lucchino, 2014; Giret et al., 2020; Gregg, P; Macmillan, L; Nasim et al., 2012; Haapakorva, 2017; Jacob and Jacob, 2008; Jaffee et al., 2018; Karhina et al., 2023; Lallukka et al., 2019; Myhr et al., 2017; Obradovic et al., 2010; Odoardi, 2020; Pasanen et al., 2023; Ridder et al., 2013; Yigit et al., 2023).

Environmental circumstances

Various environmental circumstances surrounding young individuals have been identified as predictors of lower educational attainment and increased marginalization in the labour market. These include experiences of poverty, adverse childhood experiences, and a lack of positive relationships during childhood. Furthermore, involvement in foster care or child protection services has been associated with negative outcomes in terms of educational attainment and employment status (Amin et al., 2019; Arifi et al., 2019; Baalbergen and Jaspers, 2023; Bania et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2021; Doku et al., 2018; Essadek et al., 2023; Fallesen, 2013; Finkenauer et al., 2023; Fleming et al., 2020; Hale and Viner, 2018; Haugan and Myhr, 2019; Kääriälä et al., 2018, 2019; Kahlmeter, 2023; Karsberg et al., 2023; Klug et al., 2019; Plenty and la Roi, 2023).

Individual factors

Mental challenges, encompassing both internalizing and externalizing issues, have been associated with diminished educational attainment and reduced job prospects, especially when externalizing problems are present. Moreover, factors such as stress, low self-esteem, and inadequate coping strategies, including a low sense of coherence or self-efficacy, have been recognized as substantial barriers to finishing secondary school or enter the labour market. Additionally, behavioural challenges, including substance use of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, cognitive ability, school performance, and access to resources, exert significant influence on outcomes. Furthermore, factors such as parental status, involvement in underage gambling, and specific preferences such as heavy metal music as a mediating factor, also contribute to shaping the educational and employment trajectories of young individuals (Andersén et al., 2018; Arvidsson et al., 2015; Baggio et al., 2015; Billeskov et al., 2020; Bosma et al., 2014; Bynner and Parsons, 2002; Cahill et al., 2022; Campbell et al., 2020; Daly et al., 2015; Dicks et al., 2022; Djinovic and Giannakopoulos, 2023; Dorsett and Lucchino, 2014; Essadek et al., 2023; Fabi et al., 2023; Gladwell et al., 2022; Hakkarainen et al., 2013; Hale and Viner, 2018; Hällsten et al., 2019; Hammerton et al., 2019; Heetman et al., 2015; Hegelund et al., 2020; Heikkala et al., 2020; Hetlevik et al., 2018; Holmes et al., 2021; Huegaerts et al., 2020; Jensen et al., 2020; Karyda, 2020; Kokko et al., 2003; Lallukka et al., 2019; Meißner et al., 2022; Minh et al., 2023; Obradovic et al., 2010; Spångberg and Svensson, 2020; Stiby et al., 2014; Tayfur et al., 2022; Winding et al., 2023; Würtz et al., 2015).

Discussion

The purpose of this review was to ascertain social factors’ role in young people’s risk of becoming NEET. NEET status typically becomes visible because of unsuccessful transitions between compulsory education and further education or employment (Andersén et al., 2018; Hakkarainen et al., 2013). Hence, understanding the unsuccessful transitions to eventual employment entails exploring social risk factors occurring up until then (Jaffee et al., 2018). Identifying social risk factors for young people to become part of the NEET group thus consist of multifactor explanations (Gladwell et al., 2022). The present review yielded social factors spanning three overarching spheres: parental factors; environmental factors; and individualistic factors. Our findings across these spheres indicate that the parental educational and labour market attainment, growing up in poverty and what is deemed behavioural problems are strongly related to young people’s risk of becoming NEET later in life (Alfieri et al., 2015; Arifi et al., 2019; Giret et al., 2020; Haapakorva et al., 2017; Hammerton et al., 2019; Karhina et al., 2023; Karyda, 2020; Yigit et al., 2023). These finding are present across European countries, and majority/minority status (Baalbergen and Jaspers, 2023; Gustafsson et al., 2017).

Our first finding concerns social factors pertaining to the young person’s parents. Having parents with low educational level, who are unemployed or on social assistance are associated with increasing young people’s risk of NEET. In general, deviation from a (financially secure) nuclear family presents a significant risk in the literature. Growing up separated from one or both parents or exposure to adverse behaviour from parents (e.g. maltreatment or parental substance abuse) are identified as risk factors. Nevertheless, parental support for education can mitigate risks for NEET status (Alfieri et al., 2015).

A second contribution of our review concerns the role of marginalization as an environmental social factor, indicated through poverty and lack of adult support in the childhood. Growing up in relative poverty (e.g. parents being unemployed or living in a deprived neighbourhood) is in all studies associated with increased risk of NEET. Furthermore, encountering adverse experiences in childhood that prompt involvement from child protective services (including out-of-home placement) are associated with increased risk of NEET. Several studies note lacking positive relationships to adults and peers in childhood have adverse effects (Baumann et al., 2016; Bertogg and Szydlik, 2016; Branje et al., 2014; Stiby et al., 2014). Potential mitigating factors for young people include interventions addressing unstable living situations, poverty, and cultivating a supportive teacher–student relationships in schools, or an otherwise presence of a trusted adult in the pupils’ life (Finkenauer et al., 2023). These factors can increase school engagement, thereby reducing the risk of NEET status (Duckworth and Schoon, 2012; Schoon and Lyons-Amos, 2017).

The third contribution revolves around individual social risk factors, particularly centring mental robustness, and school performance. Factors such as having low self-esteem, low self-control, low self-efficacy and poor coping mechanisms, stress and being uncertain of one’s aspirations for education or employment are associated with increased risk of NEET. Generally, research indicates that mental and physical health issues during childhood, along with a lack of activity, are associated with NEET status in adulthood. Findings identifying timidness, cynicism, and aggressiveness as personality characteristics increasing risk of NEET point towards social maladjustment presents a significant risk. These personality characteristics are further associated with school expulsions and other subsequent behavioural challenges (such as underage gambling) that increase risk of NEET. Poor academic performance and cognitive impairments, particularly grade repetition or struggles with mathematics, and to a lesser extent, reading, serve as indicators of school performance and are associated with an increased risk of NEET status. Therefore, identified mitigating factors encompass the preservation of both physical and mental well-being, alongside early intervention strategies aimed at reducing behavioural challenges.

Across the three overarching spheres we found that gender disparities also influence the impact of the risk factor. Young women with borderline are more likely to be categorized as NEET or to be (young and single) parents putting them at increased risk of low socioeconomic status and limited education. Men having exhibited behavioural problems in compulsory schooling, being part of a minority population or having fathers with peripheral labour market participation are as well more often categorized as NEET. Risks associated with having parents without employment are more pronounced for men in studies accounting for gender, especially if their father is a low social class or their parents (or themselves) are immigrants. Studies suggest behavioural problems and lack of social belonging to peers (antisocial behaviour) have a more significant effect than emotional problems for young men and boys, or those from a lower social class (Andrade and Järvinen, 2017).

The findings in this review have policy and practice implications. With regards to risk factors associated with the parental factors, efforts could entail ensuring additional early efforts in home environments of low socioeconomic status or low parental labour market affiliation (Mussida and Sciulli, 2023). In addition, the review suggests ensuring young people gain self-efficacy and mental robustness. Moreover, it is relevant to consider support for families experiencing financial scarcity (Finkenauer et al., 2023). For gender disparities, increased support for young (single) parents, immigrant children and youth, and children exhibiting behavioural problems are identified as relevant efforts.

Limitations

Despite the extensiveness of this review, it has a few limitations. First, despite the comprehensive procedure to locate and classify studies, there is an omnipresent risk of missing relevant studies due to the choices made regarding search procedures, namely the terms and the databases. Second, there is great variety in the factors explored and attributed as social factors in NEET status. It is unclear whether all factors are sufficiently associated with NEET status, as multiple factors tend to be explored simultaneously when determining outcomes. Future research into social factors’ impact on NEET status could advantageously entail statistical meta-analysis. These could estimate effect sizes which this review does not venture into.

Conclusion

This review highlights the impact of social factors on NEET risk, with some factors receiving more attention in the literature. Identified social factors shed light on demographic groups disproportionately affected by NEET status, including those in out-of-home care, poverty, with poor academic performance, or facing mental health challenges like low self-efficacy. Additionally, specific male and female cohorts face heightened risks. While the review emphasizes overarching social risk factors, it also underscores the focus on individual and parental factors in understanding NEET status. Addressing NEET status for millions of young people requires political initiatives that holistically address individual, parental, and environmental factors in their lives.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental Material - Mapping social landscapes: Youth NEET risk and social issues in Europe – A systematic literature review

Supplemental Material for Mapping social landscapes: Youth NEET risk and social issues in Europe – A systematic literature review by Victoria Lindblad, Nanna Ramsing Enemark, Pernille Skou Gaardsted, Line Elise Møller Hansen, Fie Falk Lauritzen and Dorte Melgaard in Power and Education