Becoming NEET: Risks, Rewards and Realities

Over one million young people are now NEET--not in education, employment or training. The waste of human resource is tragic and the resultant disaffection could dangerously destabilize society.

This book describes the challenges and risks for young people within the NEET category, and the chaotic and confusing lives that some young people lead. These circumstances in turn increase vulnerability to becoming NEET. In a unique collaboration, a Local Authority Educational Psychologist and a Connexions Personal Adviser examine the histories of employment and childhood to reveal the context of NEET. They describe how information about children’s lives can be used to develop screening tools to facilitate early intervention in schools.

The five case studies presented are drawn from interviews with young people, their families, schools and Personal Advisers that have been affected by the experience of being NEET. They give readers the methods for understanding the complexity of some young people’s lives from different perspectives. This can be used to develop effective ways of reducing the incidence of NEET among our most vulnerable young people.

The book will be useful to everyone working with young people and striving to prevent NEET, in particular staff at secondary schools and academies, personal advisers, educational psychologists, administrators and youth workers.