Youth not in Education, Employment, or Training in Lithuania: Subjective Evaluation of Experiences and Possibilities in the Labour Market
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.81.3.5792Keywords:
the youth, education, transition, labour market, youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET)Abstract
This article presents a subjective evaluation of the youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET), concerning their experiences and possibilities in the Lithuanian labour market. The main focus lies in identifying major issues, related to a successful youth transition from education to the labour market. Research problem could be defined by a number of questions. How do the youth that are currently not in education, employment, and training evaluate their possibilities in the labour market in Lithuania? What are the main factors influencing unemployment of the youth in Lithuania? What are the obstacles of the first job search? The theoretical part of the paper is based on the research of the youth that are not in education, employment, and training in different countries. The paper is based on the results of a research project ‘Transition of Lithuanian youth from Education to the Labour Market: Development of Monitoring Indicators’, supported by the National Research Program ‘Challenges to Social Security’ . The purpose of this paper is to disclose subjective evaluation of the youth that are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) experiences and possibilities in the Lithuanian labour market. Indicators reflecting youth (16-29 years old) reasons of unemployment and youth labour market demands have been selected out of the data matrix. Data analysis allows forming 5 scales consisting of 79 primary indicators. The scale of causes of unemployment is long (N item=25) and consists of 8 subscales. Internal scales correlation is quite high (Cronbach Alfa coefficient 0.80). Other scales, reflecting the following aspects of the youth situation and possibilities in the labour market, have been developed: 1) study area choice, 2) factors determining employment, 3) obstacles for finding the first suitable job, and 4) difficulties in the first job.
Research results have revealed that the main reasons of unfavorable youth situation in the labour market are a mismatch between educational attainment and labour market demands, unfavorable labour market situation, and personal characteristics, such as a lack of appropriate education and motivation for work, difficulties of reconciling family and working life.
