Introduction to the Special Issue: European Rural NEETs: A Snapshot

This supplemental issue focuses on the challenges associated with European rural NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) youth socioeconomic inclusion. For NEETs, the transition from childhood to adulthood is both complex and fascinating, fraught with risks of marginalization and precarity. Such challenges have been compounded by assumptions regarding homogeneity evident in publications by the EU and the OECD which place all NEETs within age ranges without recognition of the complexity of life in this demographic. In 2019, across the then EU28 member-states and non-EU states, the proportion of NEETs was recorded as higher in rural regions when compared with the same rate in towns and suburbs or cities (Eurostat, 2020). Notably, an uneven NEET distribution by the degree of urbanization was evident in many eastern or southern European countries, with gaps between cities and rural areas ranging from 10 to more than 20 percentile points. Clearly, there is a need to explore the greater proportions of rural NEETs that occur in European countries with sub-protective welfare regimes and fail short to support school-to-work transition among the most vulnerable youths (Schoon & Heckhausen, 2019). These young Europeans particularly, between the ages of 15 to 24 in rural settings, are especially vulnerable and depend on a wide range of supports and targeted interventions at regional, national, and international levels. The impact of recent economic crises and austerity policies of governments are having a sustained negative impact on the provision of such social services and, consequently, the availability of sustainable programs and opportunities that target young people and those already experiencing marginalization.