Name: Determining the Profiles of NEET* Youth in Turkiye from a Well-being Perspective and Policy Development Study
* NEET: Not in Education, Employment or Training

Institution: İstanbul Bilgi University

Donor: TÜBİTAK – Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye 2519 – COST WORKING GROUP SUPPORT PROGRAM (Project No: 222K388)

Project Duration: July, 2023 – June, 2025

Türkiye ranks first among European Union member and candidate countries in terms of NEET rates, and the problem becomes even more critical when gender differences are taken into account.

The fact that many young people in Türkiye are excluded from education, employment and social life reduces the welfare level of young people and prevents them from realising their potential. This high rate of NEET youth is also important for youth, education and employment policies.

The goals of reducing the NEET youth rate are included in the development plans of the Republic of Türkiye, in the related strategic plans and at the level of ministries. According to the Twelfth Development Plan, the NEET rate in Türkiye is targeted to be reduced from 23 per cent in 2023 to 20 per cent in 2028. Understanding the problems of NEET youth and reducing their rates is an important policy goal in the world, especially in the European Union and OECD countries as well as in Turkey. In this context, policies and interventions are implemented at various levels in many countries including Türkiye.

This project, supported by TÜBİTAK, aims to draw a realistic Türkiye-specific profile of young people aged 15-24 with NEET status based on the well-being of young people through a multi-method research.

In Türkiye, existing policies and strategic plans address NEET youth in a uniform manner and there is a need for improvement in the consideration of the needs of different youth groups. In order for policy objectives in this area to be successful, it is first necessary to better understand the problems and profiles of NEET youth. In order for young people to fulfil their potential, their specific needs need to be identified and support needs to be provided in these areas.

Our project, supported by TÜBİTAK, will contribute to a better understanding of the NEET phenomenon by drawing attention to different intersectionalities such as gender and rural dimension specific to NEET youth in Türkiye. Stakeholders who need to be mobilised for a comprehensive solution, especially young people, who are the subjects of the issue, will be given the opportunity to participate and suggestions will be made for policy-making processes. In addition, in the light of the “well-being” and “bioecological model” approaches adopted within the scope of the project, a series of determinants for increasing the capabilities of young people living in Türkiye will be put forward, contributing to effective policy making and literature.

This project is in line with the 11th Development Plan’s goals of reducing youth unemployment (Art. 116), facilitating the entry of young people into the labour market (Art. 210) and creating decent jobs for women and youth (Art. 539). It will also contribute to the objective of “ensuring that all individuals have access to inclusive and quality education and lifelong learning opportunities” (Art. 537).

• Drawing a unique and multidimensional profile of NEET youth in Türkiye through a survey that will represent 2400 youth from 18 to 24 year old in Türkiye with a sample that takes into account the rural dimension,
• Giving a voice to NEET youth, who are the direct subjects of the issue, through in-depth interviews to be conducted with the participation of 100 young people from different profiles and geographies,
• Buliding an information portal that will create a common understanding among the public and stakeholders on basic concepts, theoretical debates, studies in Türkiye and the world, policy recommendations and legal infrastructure,
• Mapping relevant stakeholders in Türkiye and involving them in the policy-making process,
• Organising a series of workshops with the participation of national and local stakeholders in policy-making processes,
• Raising awareness on the issue in Türkiye by sharing all project results and findings with the public and,
• Contributing to national and international literature.

In our research, quantitative and qualitative methods will be used together. Within the scope of our survey study aiming to collect quantitative data, the sample representing the population of Türkiye between the ages of 15-24 will be selected in two stages (proportional probability and then expanded sampling methods). Within the scope of our survey study, which aims to reach a total of 2400 people, the stories of NEET and non-NEET youth will be analysed comparatively. Within the scope of the qualitative study, in-depth interviews will be conducted with 100 NEET youth selected with maximum diversity through purposive sampling method in provinces covering Istanbul, Adana and Mersin. In the interviews, it will be aimed to identify common themes and differences regarding the problems and coping mechanisms of NEET youth and to give a voice to NEET youth.

Research Questions:

• What are the characteristics of NEET youth aged 15-24 in Türkiye? Are there NEET typologies specific to Türkiye?
• What are the individual and intersectional effects of gender, rural/urban, family structures and geographical differences?
• What are the areas and indicators of well-being of NEET youth aged 15-24 in Türkiye? What are the determinants of subjective well-being in particular?
• In the light of the findings, what kind of policies can be developed by considering different typologies and different needs of young people aged 15-24?

By identifying different NEET profiles affected by intersectional factors, especially gender and ruralness, the stories of NEET youth will be told in a holistic way with the help of the Wellbeing Approach and the Bioecological Model.

Inequalities and the deprivation, poverty and lack of access to rights caused by these inequalities are among the most fundamental problems both in the world and in Türkiye. The issue of how to prevent the transmission of this inequality from generation to generation, especially for the most vulnerable groups, and what kind of policies should be developed with a human development perspective are being studied both in academic and political fields.

Well-being Approach

Well-being, which is a measurement and analytical assessment tool for evaluating both the present and the future, is an approach that emphasises subjective experiences by defining new areas such as subjective well-being and participation. All areas of well-being shaped by the social conditions, social networks and resources surrounding individuals – material status, health, education/work, risk and safety, home and environment, participation – are interrelated. Relationships and subjective well-being questions are also addressed in all areas.

There are a limited number of studies focusing on subjective well-being in the field of NEET. Two of the studies conducted in Türkiye were conducted by Prof. Dr. Emre Erdoğan and Prof. Dr. Pınar Uyan Semerci, the researchers of this project. These studies are the TÜBİTAK-supported Child Well-being Survey (Uyan Semerci, 2012) and the Youth Well-being Survey implemented by Habitat Association (Erdoğan, 2017; 2019; 2020; 2021).

Bioecological Model

Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model offers a useful perspective in research that tries to reveal well-being in areas that affect each other (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Bronfenbrenner, 1995; Bronfenbrenner & Morris 1998). According to the Bioecological Model, development reflects the influence of many environmental systems and is defined by the (micro-/meso-/exo-/macro-/chrono-) systems in which individuals interact. With the help of the bioecological perspective, it is aimed to portray the situation of NEET young people in all areas that determine their well-being with both objective and subjective indicators by considering the closest environment, especially the family/household conditions in which they live, to the widest circle that includes global scale changes such as digitalisation, climate change and pandemic.

Intersectionality Approach

In particular, it is aimed to collect the necessary data to identify the most vulnerable groups and then to make the right interventions. Intersectionalities is an important concept to reveal the heterogeneity of NEET youth and the complex structure of determinant processes. Based on the idea that inequality systems such as gender, class, race, ethnic identity, disability, migration intersect and create unique dynamics and consequences (Collins, 1998), this concept will help to identify the most vulnerable groups in the areas of well-being that are elaborated with the help of the bioecological model. It will help us to understand the intersectionality caused by the multidimensional structure of exclusion by helping us to understand at which levels and how social exclusion occurs.

Capabilities Approach

The Capabilities Approach, developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, is a normative framework that proposes individual well-being be assessed in terms of a person’s capacity to perform valued functions (i.e. the various things that a person might value doing or being). It shifts the focus from traditional measures of well-being, such as income or utility, to what individuals can actually do or be – their “capabilities”. The development areas identified within the scope of the Capabilities Approach provide us with valuable guidance within the scope of our project in identifying stakeholders that can increase or decrease the well-being of young people and for our in-depth interviews and survey work that will enable us to identify the profiles of NEETs in Türkiye.

In summary, by revealing the typologies of NEET youth aged 15-24 who are not in education and employment in Türkiye, in the light of indicators in the areas of well-being and within a bioecological model that take into account environmental conditions and resources, the processes and consequences of becoming NEET, especially intersectional vulnerabilities, will be addressed in the research.