The low skills trap

The failure of education and social policies in preventing low-literate young people from being long-term Neet

Bibliographic Data

ID12601351
AuthorsLynn Van Vugt (0000-0002-2671-9836, Maastricht University, corresponding author), Mark Levels (0000-0002-7516-3926, Maastricht University), Rolf Van Der Velden (0000-0003-4161-8125, Maastricht University)
Year2022
Volume27
Issue2
Pages217-251
Publication date2022-09-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Youth Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1367-6261 • E-ISSN: 1469-9680
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13676261.2022.2118036
OpenAlexW4296236146
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited47

This paper investigates to what extent the likelihood of young people being long-term NEET can be explained by low literacy skills, how this varies across advanced countries, and how this cross-national variation can be explained by education and social policies. We use PIAAC data and include macro-level indicators on education and social policies. We analyze the likelihood of being long-term NEET versus being in employment or in education/ training among some 34,000 young people aged 20-30 from 25 countries. We find that low-literate young people are more likely to be long-term NEET. While NEET risks are associated with countries' institutional characteristics, this does not mean that these characteristics and policies always work in favour of lowliterate young people. Although high levels of (enabling) ALMP generally reduce the risk of being NEET, they do so less for low-literate young people. Additionally, young people living in social-democratic welfare states are less likely to be NEET, but low-literate young people seem to profit less from this

Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Literacy · Welfare · Employment and Welfare Studies · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics