Young People who are NEET (August 2015)

By Editorial Team

The Office of National Statistics released information on the young people in UK who are not employed in education or in training (NEET). From April to June 2015, there were 922,000 people who were not in education, employment or training. This result records a decrease 21,000 from January to March 2015, and a fall of 44,000 from the year earlier. This is a sure sign to us that people were looking for work and available for work more than in previous months.

But if we were to dig deeper into this study we find out that the number of young people aged 18 to 24 at were NEET differed greatly when genders were compared with each other. There were 263,000 men who unemployed men aged from 16 to 24, and 168,000 women aged 16 to 24 who were NEET. Could it be that women are more favored in job interviews? An article in The Telegraph in 2013 stated that the number of women in work has increased by more than “a quarter of a million, a 1.2pc net rise, while the number of men at work had decreased by 70,000, a 0.4pc net fall”. Some argue that maybe the recession could have impacted women adversely, but it can also be stated that maybe women are just fared better than men at work.

Unemployment continues to be up for discussion during economic debates. The current rate of unemployment for the UK stands at 5.4% (Feb 2015), which is still a good rate compared with the European allies. Up until now there is no solid reason as to why the number of NEET young men differ so greatly from young women aged 16-24, however, enough research could find the answer. Only time will tell.

Sources:
*http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/10106807/Women-fared-better-than-men-in-jobs-since-recession.html
* The Office of National Statistics