Being a NEET before and after the Great Recession: persistence by gender in Southern Europe

Abstract

This article adds to the scant literature on the time persistence of being a young Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) by including four main novelties: we distinguish short- and long-term persistence; we use estimations before (2004–2007) and after the Great Recession (2013–2016); we analyse four Southern European countries that are relatively similar and were significantly affected by the Great Recession (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain); and all analyses are disaggregated by gender. The descriptive analysis shows a convergence in NEET rates by gender in the four countries due to a worsening of the male NEET rate and no improvement among young females. The econometric estimations show that long-term persistence is smaller than short-term persistence and that the latter increased after the Great Recession, especially for male NEETs. Policy implications for the design of the Youth Guarantee and lessons from the coronavirus pandemic are also discussed.