SOLIDAR: Building learning societies – European Commission pledges the support to NEETs
Today [4 February] the European Commission has announced that 1 billion euro from the Youth Employment Initiative will be made available this year to support around 650,000 young people who are neither in employment, education nor training. This will be done by increasing the pre-financing rate from 1% to 30% to provide funding for member states to implement their Youth Guarantee programmes, and therefore to demonstrate that the fight against youth unemployment is both a political and investment priority at the national and European level.
This step is crucial to enhance the social inclusion of young people and to offer new opportunities for NEETs who apart from facing economic problems are also subject to various negative social consequences, lower participation in the society, and are exposed to higher risk of unemployment and social exclusion later in their life. Currently 16% of 15-29 year olds are in need of inclusive labour market and educational opportunities, support and guidance to overcome this situation.
In its briefing paper ‘Social inclusion through VET – new opportunities for NEETs’, SOLIDAR has examined the approaches on inclusive vocational education and training to support the reintegration of NEETs and provide the inclusive learning pathways. SOLIDAR recommendations include to define broader, concrete policy measures at the national and European level to support NEETs at the grass-root level and to create tailored and meaningful actions for NEETs, including empowering young people who are outside formal structures and offering opportunities for meaningful learning and quality employment with realistic prospects for the future.
