NEETs' Challenge to Japan: Causes and Remedies

Abstract

Based on a questionnaire survey and an interview, with additional support from reviews of literature and archival information, this paper examines the underlying causes of the NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) problem in Japan. Those who responded to the survey were senior-grade students from middle schools, high schools, junior college and university, and a group of opinion leaders, who have no direct experience as freeters or NEETs. Findings from the survey suggest that individual personality attributes such as dislike of and inability to adapt to things and situations, over-sensitivity etc. which arise from and are exacerbated by unfavorable family, school, social, and workplace related circumstances, with further negative influences from the economic environment and metamorphic social changes, have given rise to the problem of NEET. The issue has posed a severe challenge to the nation's labor market, and calls for an immediate solution. The paper offers some inductive and deductive suggestions to eradicate the underlying causes of the problem and arrest its further escalation and prevent recurrence.