Your friends are studying, starting jobs, moving out. You are at home, scrolling through job ads you do not apply for, sleeping late and avoiding the question “So what are you doing now?” Some days you feel numb, some days ashamed, some days angry at a world that seems to have no place for you.
Young people who are not in education, employment or training are often called NEET. The label is used by governments and researchers, and it can sound cold. Behind it are very different lives and stories. In this article I want to explain what research says about NEET and mental health, and what can help you, or someone you care about, start moving again.
What NEET means
NEET describes young people, usually between 15 and 29, who are not in school, university, a job or vocational training. Some are NEET for a short time between two steps. Others stay there for months or years. Some are caring for children or relatives, some are ill, some are waiting for a visa or a place in a course, and some simply do not know what to do next.
In a large British cohort study, almost 12% of 18-year-olds were NEET (Goldman-Mellor et al., 2016). In a study in Mexico City, about a quarter of young adults aged 19 to 26 were NEET, many of them young homemakers, and only a small part said they were NEET by choice (Gutiérrez-García et al., 2018).
It is rarely about motivation
People often assume that young people who are not working or studying are lazy. Research does not support this. In the British study, NEET 18-year-olds described themselves as committed to work and said they were searching for jobs with even more effort than their peers. What they reported was fewer “soft” skills, such as communication, teamwork and decision-making, more pessimism about getting ahead, and more mental health problems (Goldman-Mellor et al., 2016).
Worth remembering
Being NEET is a situation, often shaped by health, family, money and the job market. It says nothing about your value as a person.
NEET and mental health
A meta-analysis of 24 studies found that being NEET was linked to more mood and anxiety problems, substance use and suicidal thoughts (Gariépy et al., 2022). In studies that followed young people over time, mental health problems often came first and made it harder to stay in school or work, while the evidence for the opposite direction was less clear. So for many young people, caring for mental health is the first step back into education or employment, and not something that has to wait until afterwards.
Why does being NEET weigh so heavily? One study found that young NEET people had more depression than students from the same area, and that this was partly explained by having less structured activity in their days and belonging to fewer social groups (Berry et al., 2019). This fits with research on unemployment more generally: work and study give us a structure for time, social contact, a sense of purpose, status and activity, and losing these affects mental health.
The reasons also matter. In the Mexico City study, young people who were NEET because they did not know what to do with their life had more mood problems and substance use than those who were NEET by choice (Gutiérrez-García et al., 2018). Feeling lost is a heavy burden in itself.
Long periods without work at a young age can leave a mark. In a Swedish study that followed young people for 19 years, longer youth unemployment was linked to a higher risk of later mental health problems (Thern et al., 2017). It is a good reason to take the situation seriously and to look for support early, without panicking.
What can help
Start with the day, not with the future
When the big questions feel overwhelming, begin with small things you can control: a regular wake-up time, one walk a day, meals at fixed times, one task you finish. Structure brings back energy, and energy makes the next step possible.
Join something
Belonging to groups seems to protect young people’s mood (Berry et al., 2019). A sports team, a volunteering project, a choir, an online community with a real purpose or a short course can all count. You do not need to know your career goal to join something.
Try instead of deciding
If you do not know what you want, you do not have to decide right away. A short internship, a weekend job, a trial day or a free online course are ways of collecting experience. Each try teaches you something about what fits you.
Work on soft skills in small steps
Communication, teamwork and confidence grow through practice. Volunteering, a part-time job or a group activity can be a safer place to practise than a high-pressure job interview.
Use the support that exists
Many countries have youth employment services, career counselling, apprenticeships and programmes for young people who want to return to education. Researchers are also developing programmes together with young people. One example is a mentor-supported intervention, designed with NEET young women and practitioners, that aims to build hope, meaningful activity and personal goals (Berry et al., 2024).
Take your mental health seriously
If you have been feeling low, anxious, numb or hopeless for a long time, or you use alcohol or drugs to get through the days, talking to someone can make a real difference. Researchers recommend combining mental health care with practical support for work and education (Gariépy et al., 2022).
For parents and families
If your son or daughter is NEET, it is natural to feel worried or frustrated. Pressure and criticism usually increase shame and withdrawal. It often helps more to stay in contact, to ask with curiosity what is hard for them, to support small steps and to pay attention to signs of depression or anxiety.
When to look for support
Please look for help if you are withdrawing from everyone, sleeping most of the day, using substances to cope, or having thoughts that life is not worth living. You might also find Being unemployed: the emotional side of losing or looking for work helpful.
If you are in crisis or having thoughts of ending your life, please call your local emergency number (for example 112 in Europe or 911 in North America and Mexico), or find a free, confidential helpline in your country at findahelpline.com.
Stuck on a decision about your work? Feeling stuck is a short audio series with four episodes and a practical roadmap.
More about therapy with me.
References
- Berry, C., Easterbrook, M. J., Empson, L., & Fowler, D. (2019). Structured activity and multiple group memberships as mechanisms of increased depression amongst young people not in employment, education or training. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 13(6), 1480–1487. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12798
- Berry, C., Fountain, J., Forbes, L., Bogen-Johnston, L., Thomson, A., Zylko, Y., Tunks, A., Hotham, S., & Michelson, D. (2024). Developing a hope-focused intervention to prevent mental health problems and improve social outcomes for young women who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET): A qualitative co-design study in deprived coastal communities in South-East England. Plos One, 19(5), e0304470. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304470
- Gariépy, G., Danna, S. M., Hawke, L., Henderson, J., & Iyer, S. N. (2022). The mental health of young people who are not in education, employment, or training: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57(6), 1107–1121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-021-02212-8
- Goldman-Mellor, S., Caspi, A., Arseneault, L., Ajala, N., Ambler, A., Danese, A., Fisher, H., Hucker, A., Odgers, C., Williams, T., Wong, C., & Moffitt, T. E. (2016). 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, and Allied Disciplines, 57(2), 196–203. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12459
- Gutiérrez-García, R. A., Benjet, C., Borges, G., Méndez Ríos, E., & Medina-Mora, M. E. (2018). Emerging adults not in education, employment or training (NEET): Socio-demographic characteristics, mental health and reasons for being NEET. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1201. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6103-4
- Thern, E., de Munter, J., Hemmingsson, T., & Rasmussen, F. (2017). Long-term effects of youth unemployment on mental health: Does an economic crisis make a difference? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 71(4), 344–349. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2016-208012
This article is exploratory and meant for information and reflection. It cannot capture the full complexity of any individual situation, and your own experience may be different. It does not replace a diagnosis or treatment.
