Are Some Canadian Youth NEETer than Others? Examining North-South and Rural-Urban Inequalities in Education, Employment, and Training

Darcy Hango,Brad Seward,David Zarifa

doi:10.22584/nr52.2021.003

Darcy Hango, Brad Seward + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.22584/nr52.2021.003

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Abstract

A growing body of research studies youth not actively involved in education, employment, or training (NEET). Some recent estimates of NEET place Canadian youth at slightly below the OECD average. At the same time, however, researchers have identified a number of regional barriers that present unique challenges to labour market participation for Canadians residing in northern and rural areas. In this article, we investigate the extent to which regional differences contribute to the labour market inactivity of Canadian youth. Using multiple waves of Statistics Canada’s Youth in Transition Survey (YITS-A), we find that indeed NEET rates differ for youth who reside in northern and southern Canada. Northern, rural youth show significantly higher probabilities of being NEET between ages 20 and 22. Moreover, these regional differences in NEET status continue to have a strong and independent effect, even when accounting for socio-demographic characteristics, parental socio-economic factors, educational experiences, and family structure. These inequalities in early workforce outcomes have important implications for policy-makers, as they seek new ways of bolstering the school to work transitions of northern and rural youth.

Highlights

A growing body of research studies youth not actively involved in education, employment, or training (NEET)
We examine the prevalence of school and work absences over a 36-month period between 2005 and 2007, when these Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) youth are between the ages of 20 and 22. e reason for this period is twofold: rst, attrition becomes more of an issue in later cycles of the YITS and so restricting analyses to earlier cycles helps alleviate this; and second, inactivity in school and work during this period could be especially signi cant, as it is a peak time when the great majority of young adults are enrolled in some type of post-secondary program
The multiple parameter Wald test indicates that location of residence does have a strong and signi cant impact on the likelihood of being NEET (p

Summary

Introduction

A growing body of research studies youth not actively involved in education, employment, or training (NEET). Introduction e employment difficulties that accompany economic downturns can be especially detrimental to working-aged youth, and researchers have argued that employment instability and the absence of desirable employment opportunities may lead some to select themselves out of future labour market and educational pursuits (LaRochelle-Côté 2013; Marshall 2012). Even among those youth with high job-search efforts, persistent joblessness can lead to pessimistic perceptions of ability, among those who lack “soft skills,” including problem solving, leadership, and time management (Goldman-Melor et al 2016). No existing research has sought to examine the difficulties youth face in the northernmost parts of the provinces (the Provincial North), nor have they sought to see how these north–south differences interact with rural–urban inequalities

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