In 2019, France had around 1.5 million young people aged 15 to 29 neither in employment, nor in studies, nor in training, or 12.9% of this age group, a share which then rose with the crisis. , according to an INSEE study published on Friday.
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The INSEE study on these young people, commonly referred to as NEET (“
neither in employment nor in education or training
”), covers the year 2019, but the institute also specifies that, for metropolitan France alone, their share , which had been declining steadily since 2015, rose from 12.4% to 13.5% in 2020 with the crisis.
In 2019, 47% of these young people are unemployed within the meaning of the ILO, 20% are in the "
unemployment halo
" because they want to work but do not meet the criteria of availability or job search to be considered unemployed and 33% say they do not want to work for various reasons (children, health, etc.).
As for young people who are not NEET, 51% are employed, 43% are unemployed but continue their initial studies and 6% have resumed studies or follow other forms of training.
A share that increases with age
The share of NEET increases strongly with age.
It is very low (3%) at the age of 15 or 16 due to compulsory education, then it increases between 17 and 20 years, up to 16%, in particular with the exits of the school system of young people with little qualifications. .
It grows more moderately then up to 24 years (19%) and stabilizes up to 29 years.
From 25 to 29 years old, young people are much less in initial training than between 15 and 24 years and over in employment, but they are also more unemployed, in the halo or in situations of inactivity other than studies or training (housewives for example).
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Up to the age of 21, women, who attend school more frequently, are less often NEET than men.
From the age of 22, the trend is reversed because women are more often inactive, often due to the birth of a child.
On average between 2015 and 2019, among NEETs, nearly two in three women between the ages of 25 and 29 were mothers, i.e. twice as many as among those in employment, studies or training.