The specifics of the NEETs population in Bulgaria and Romania

Abstract

NEETs are a social category specific to today's society characterized by increasing inequalities between people, precariousness, and insecurity. At the level of the majority of the population but also among the authorities and specialists (economists, sociologists, psychologists, etc.) the dominant perception is negative on this category of populations often associated with the underclass, dangerous class (Avis, 2014), people getting nowhere (Bynner, Ferri & Shepherd, 1997) or people at risk (Conrad, 2005). The interest for this category of the population is even higher for Bulgaria and Romania because the share of NEETs is the highest in the EU: 23.8% in Romania and 20.7% in Bulgaria (Eurostat database). This paper aims to analyze this category of population to obtain a more realistic image of NEETs, especially in the two Eastern European countries. One of the few positive effects resulting from the accentuation of interest for this category of the population consists in increasing the number of documents (articles, reports, books, etc.) that analyze NEETs. By using alternative research methodologies (literature review) these documents can provide relevant information on NEETs and can provide several clarifications on their situation at the national and European levels.

Keywords

• NEETs
• alternative research methodologies
• Bulgaria
• Romania