'NEET' problem: 25% of India's youth not in education, employment, training

NEET, short for not in education, employment and training, globally 20.4% of youth fell into the NEET category in 2023

Nearly a quarter of India’s youth, aged 15 to 24, is neither employed, enrolled in education, or receiving any training. While the share of this cohort, NEET — short for not in education, employment and training — has fallen over the years, it has remained higher than the global average.

Over the years, the share moved down from 30.8 per cent in 2018 to 23.5 per cent in 2023, according to data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). However, the agency estimates it to rise to 25.9 per cent in 2024.
 

“While there is a decline, the figures remain a concern. It is a grave situation leading us to question our policy responses,” says Praveen Jha, Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He attributes the reduction to marginal improvements in training opportunities and employment, although educational participation has seen minimal progress.
 

Globally, 20.4 per cent of youth fell into the NEET category in 2023.
 

Region-wise
 

NEET are young people who are neither in school nor working or seeking employment. The reasons could include engagement in household chores, discouragement, not needing to work due to household wealth, or not going to school, explains Sara Elder, Head of the Employment Analyses & Economic Policies Unit at the ILO. The group also includes unemployed youth actively looking for work.  
 

A region-wise analysis shows the share is higher in rural areas at 24.6 per cent compared to 20.7 per cent in urban areas in 2023. In 2018, the rural figure was 32.8 per cent, while urban areas stood at 26.1 per cent (chart 1).

 

In 2023, over half of the youth with less than basic education were classified as NEET, followed by 39.8 per cent of those with advanced degrees. For youth with basic education and intermediate level, the figure was 21.6 per cent and 16.3 per cent, respectively. Basic education is till the primary or lower secondary level and advanced start from the Bachelor degree or equivalent level.
 

Only 10.8 per cent of young Indians hold an advanced degree, Elder notes.
 

Searching for opportunities
 

Among these youths, some may be waiting for better job opportunities, supported by their financial capacity, explains Jha. He points to the industry’s lack of skills alignment and insufficient on-the-job training, contrasting it with China, where 90 per cent workers receive on-the-job training.
 

A larger share of females are in the NEET category. The share of females was 38.1 per cent compared to 10.2 per cent for males in 2023.
 

“At least two in three NEETs in the country are young women who are not able to attend school or work,” says Elder.

As much as 48.1 per cent of females and 15.3 per cent of males were in NEET in 2018 (chart 2).

 

Inability of education system
 

Access to education could also be one of the factors.
 

“If we assume that most young people aged 15 to 24 should be in some educational institution but are not, the inability of the education system to engage them is a key concern,” says Elder.
 

In part, the NEET challenge could also be due to an inability of households to facilitate their young people to stay in school. It could be an issue of poverty or societal norms -- with girls and young women frequently excluded from schooling, she adds.
 

India’s performance on this indicator lags behind the world’s top five economies and some countries with a similar range of per capita income.  
 

Country-wise
 

Out of the 11 countries taken from the advanced world and peer nations, eight, including Tunisia (22.6 per cent), Nigeria (13.9 per cent), Bolivia (9.6 per cent) and all the top five economies, have a lower share of the youth in NEET than in India (chart 3).

 

A country-wise comparison shows that India is not performing as expected, says Jha.
 

He notes that ILO gathers data from countries and makes minor adjustments. The decline in India’s NEET share may reflect government-reported unemployment figures, which show a decrease on a yearly basis. However, alternative surveys indicate rising unemployment.
 

Employment orientation
 

India has been focusing on employment-oriented and skill-imparting policies to address the problems of the youth. For instance, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Budget for the current financial year a prime minister's package of five schemes for Rs 2 trillion, aimed at benefiting 41 million youth over five years to promote employment, skill development, and other opportunities.
 

These schemes include internship programmes for 10 million youth with India's top companies, a direct benefit transfer of up to Rs 15,000 for first-time employees earning Rs 1 lakh per month and registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, and a centrally sponsored scheme to skill 2 million youth in partnership with states and industry.
 

Additionally, loans of up to Rs 1 million for higher education in domestic institutions were announced.
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet chief secretaries of states in November to discuss matters involving employment and skilling.