This year on the 8M International Women's Day (IWD), we want to raise awareness about gender disparities in the labour market and gender inequality in general, as outlined in a recent article published by CEDEFOP around “Helping female NEETs (re)integrate into education, employment or training” through “6 Tips” key recommendations: Helping female NEETs (re)integrate into education, employment or training | CEDEFOP
As indicated in the article, globally, 2 in 3 young people Not in Employment Education or Training NEETS are female, and while in Europe rates of NEETS are dropping, they remain higher for women, 12.5% compared to a rate of 10.1% for male (CEDEFOP 2024).
At the same time, women without a diploma are more likely to remain NEETS in comparison to men, and women with children are more likely to become NEETS than women without (Donner et al, 2021). Structural issues relating to childcare and family responsibilities mean that women often drop out of training programmes or do not consider entering the labour force. (CEDEFOP), while women are more likely to be doing non-labour force work e.g. childcare, housekeeping etc, and so are less likely to report themselves as seeking work (Danner et al, 2021)
The article highlights the following recommendations to help tackle the barriers faced by female NEETs:
1. Fully understand the characteristics and trajectories of young women who are NEETs
2. Targeted outreach and activation measures for female NEETs, building trust, connection and empowerment
3. Providing childcare for female NEETs
4. Mentoring for female NEETs
5. Bringing female NEETs into VET through flexible programmes and validating existing skills
6. Creating secure and sustainable labour market attachment and fostering female entrepreneurship focusing on emerging sectors.
Our partnership takes inspiration in those recommendations for the writing of the Terremplo Strategy and action plans, which consider a specific target on women and relates to the priority areas highlighted by CEDEFOP, such as strong outreach of disadvantaged job seekers, mentoring and skills validation, flexible programme delivery and entrepreneurial competences development.
Similarly to the Terremplo project journey, we have consulted young people NEETs and organisations supporting them to identify specific needs and concrete support that facilitates their access to training and employment opportunities.
As indicated by CEDEFOP, “policy-makers and practitioners need to understand fully the needs of female NEETs (...) Multi-dimensional issues may be at play, such as living in remote areas, migration background, health challenges, lack of support measures, or single parenthood. All these factors may be contributing to the withdrawal or limited uptake of active labour market policies (ALMPs) targeting female NEETs.”
In terms of mentoring, there are concrete actions that the Terremplo partners are already applying within their career guidance and Vet provision programmes, such as:
- “Breaking the cycle of disadvantage through providing (female) role models.”
- “Building confidence and self-esteem: (...) Mentoring can help them develop a positive self-image and build confidence in their abilities to take the next step to re-engage with the world of work.”
- “Improving skills, competences and employability: (…) Ranging from oral and written communication to planning and reflecting on personal career goals, the development of these skills may be a direct result of engaging in a mentoring programme.”
Sources:
Helping female NEETs (re)integrate into education, employment or training | CEDEFOP (2024)
Statistics on young people neither in employment nor in education or training - Statistics Explained (Data extracted in May 2024)
Understanding economic inactivity and NEET status among young women in the UK and France-(Danner at al,2021)