NEET in the UK: Demographics, Causes, and Future Success

Introduction and Research Questions

NEET — an acronym for Not in Education, Employment, or Training — is a serious problem for UK society and its economy (Simmons & Lambert, 2013). As Goldman-Mellor et al. (2015) demonstrate, the problem of NEET is "poorly understood" and requires further study. A significant gap exists between the causes and effects related to NEET and how the issue should be addressed to support future success.

This study poses the following research questions to better understand the problem:

These five questions provide a framework for the study. The five independent variables are gender, age, religion, political affiliation, and ethnicity, while the dependent variable is perception of NEET in the UK.

The answers to these questions will illustrate how NEET is viewed across different demographic groups and how those groups experience the problem. The method is quantitative, but the study also takes a phenomenological focus, examining the issue of NEET and how various demographics experience it. Perspectives drawn from lived experience can help explain why NEET occurs — much as visiting a battlefield helps one understand the battle. This study therefore surveys those impacted by NEET in order to better understand the problem and how they perceive it.

The investigation will shed light on whether NEET reflects a reluctance to engage with education, employment, or training, or whether it is driven by external factors such as economic conditions, a lack of social structure or opportunity, or family background. There may be many contributing factors, or perhaps one or two that predominate. The survey will provide empirical information on this question.

The literature reviewed will consist of UK-focused studies examining the reasons for and causes of NEET, including demographic, economic, political, and social dimensions. Searches will be conducted using databases such as JSTOR and Google Scholar, with keyword terms including "NEET," "NEET UK," and "NEET causes." Results will yield additional sources whose own keyword terms can be used for further searches.

The study uses a quantitative correlative survey method combined with a phenomenological approach, employing both surveys and interviews to obtain deeper answers. An initial survey will be followed by a follow-up interview with respondents who meet demographic criteria and wish to share their perspectives. The action plan is structured as follows: one month to review the literature and design the survey and interview questions; one month to conduct the survey; one month to conduct the interviews; and one month to analyze the data and write the report.

Theoretical Frameworks

Three theoretical perspectives are relevant to this topic: Critical Theory, Feminist Theory, and Game Theory.

Critical Theory takes a broadly Marxist approach to its subject matter. Drawing on the Frankfurt School tradition, it focuses on critiquing every dimension of society in order to understand its underlying construction. It does not limit itself to economics and the working class but examines all of society and the foundational forces that give rise to particular issues and practices (Paddison, 2004). This perspective is well suited to the present study because it offers a method for systematically unpacking how society functions and why certain groups are disadvantaged.

Feminist Theory approaches the topic through the lens of sex and gender, examining inequalities within patriarchal structures that oppress minorities and individuals in order to maintain existing power arrangements (Barker & Kuiper, 2003). This framework is relevant given that gender is one of the study's key independent variables.

Game Theory offers a way to analyze whether a win-loss dynamic is operating — that is, whether one party benefits at the expense of another (Osborne, 2004) — which could help explain the mechanisms through which NEET emerges in the UK.

Any of these theories could be applied to this study. Critical Theory may be the most appropriate because it can incorporate elements of the other two. It is sufficiently open and expansive to examine and critique society from multiple angles without restricting the scope of inquiry. Accordingly, Critical Theory will serve as the primary framework, with supplementary insights drawn from Feminist critique and Game Theory where relevant.

That said, Game Theory may most closely reflect a particular understanding of Western culture as a zero-sum contest in which a ruling class or elite maintains power by suppressing an underclass, thereby preventing it from rising to challenge the existing order. From this perspective, NEET could be interpreted as one dimension of the struggle between ruling elites and an oppressed underclass that resists participation in the educational or economic system. Such resistance can generate social unrest, protests, and instability — and may itself be a meaningful act of opposition to a system perceived as exclusionary. Understanding how those affected by NEET view their own position — whether as victims, passive subjects, or active participants in a larger contest — is therefore central to this inquiry.

Research Methodology and Design

The research method will involve identifying the demographics most affected by NEET and examining them as factors in the future success of individuals in society. Literature reviews will support this portion of the study — for example, Bynner and Parsons (2002), which examines "social exclusion" as a contributing factor in NEET (p. 289).

As Creswell (2007) notes, the "basic purpose of phenomenology is to reduce individual experiences with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence" (p. 58). This methodological orientation gives the researcher the tools necessary for immersion into the world of NEET and the lives of those affected by it. The phenomenological approach looks beneath the surface to the actual people touched by the issue and explores what keeps them in that position, as they themselves understand it. It examines whether they see themselves as victims or as active participants in a broader contest — whether they are passive in the face of an oppressive system or actively countering it. The aim is to uncover motives through interviews and analysis and to integrate these qualitative findings with quantitative survey data.

The study's survey will consist of 5–10 short, closed questions focused on obtaining demographic information and identifying suitable interview candidates. The follow-up interview will consist of 5–10 open-ended questions that allow respondents to provide richer information. This is the phenomenological dimension of the study: it reveals how perceptions shape beliefs and actions within a community, and what happens when behavior is grounded in a particular experiential perspective (Lewis-Beck et al., 2004).

Data analysis will identify common themes and patterns using standard phenomenological coding, as described by Lin (2013).

References

Barker, D., & Kuiper, E. (2003). Toward a feminist philosophy of economics. Routledge.

Bynner, J., & Parsons, S. (2002). Social exclusion and the transition from school to work: The case of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60(2), 289–309.

Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage.

Goldman-Mellor, S. et al. (2015). Committed to work but vulnerable: Self-perceptions and mental health in NEET 18-year-olds from a contemporary British cohort. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12459

Lewis-Beck, M., Bryman, A., & Liao, T. (2004). The Sage encyclopedia of social science research methods. Sage.

Lin, C. (2013). Revealing the "essence" of things: Using phenomenology in LIS research. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries (QQML), 4, 469–478.

Okello, G. et al. (2013). Challenges for consent and community engagement in the conduct of cluster randomized trials among school children in low-income settings: Experiences from Kenya. Trials, 14, 142–154.

Osborne, M. (2004). An introduction to game theory. Oxford University Press.

Paddison, M. (2004). Adorno, modernism and mass culture: Essays on critical theory. Kahn & Averill.

Simmons, R., & Lambert, S. (2013). A NEET solution? First, 546, 11.