GE1226

YOUTH
IN THE CHANGING SOCIETY –
NEET Youth

shutindai2-c@my.cityu.edu.hk
 Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course student should be

able to
➢Analyze the dynamic work situation among
youths right from the tradition to the
contemporary times.
➢Discuss the controversy surrounding the
concept of NEET
➢Explain theoretically work and NEET
youths
 Adolescent Work in Traditional Cultures

Hunting, Fishing, and Gathering

 These duties are typically undertaken by men

 Boys learn to hunt and fish by accompanying their father

and other men on expeditions

 Often in cultures where males have the responsibility for

hunting or fishing, women have a complementary
responsibility for gathering
N/B:
Hunting may be required of adolescent boys as a way of
showing that they are ready for manhood
Among the nomadic Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in Africa
a boy is not considered a man until he has successfully killed
his first antelope
 Adolescent Work in Traditional Cultures
Farming and Care of Domestic Animals
Adolescents in cultures with agrarian economies often
provide useful work to their families
Because taking care of domestic animals often requires
little in the way of skill or experience, it is a frequent
responsibility of adolescents and even preadolescents all
over the world
Farming often requires a higher level of training and skill,
so this enterprise is typically carried out by fathers and
sons
Interesting Footnote:
Even today farming remains the main occupation
of a substantial proportion of the world’s
population.

However, in developed countries the proportion

of people farming is declining due to industrialization.
 Adolescent Work in Traditional Cultures
Child Care and Household Work
Women and girls have the main responsibility in most
traditional cultures in caring for children and doing
household work
By doing this kind of work, the adolescent daughter
prepares herself for her adult work role and
demonstrates to potential marriage partners that she is
capable of running a household

Preparing food is heavily labor

intensive in traditional cultures!

You cant’ just defrost it in the

microwave or pick it up at a drive-thru
window!
 Adolescent Work in Traditional Cultures
Child Care and Household Work
Unpaid labor and invisible labor!
In most cases, the childcare and household
work within a family are unpaid and invisible.

The presence of foreign domestic workers is

often seen as a means of addressing gender
disparities by allowing local women to
participate more fully in the workforce.

<Global Cinderellas: migrant domestics and

newly rich employers in Taiwan>
 Adolescent Work Before 1900
 Before the 17th and 18th centuries it was common
for adolescents to work in farming and care of
domestic animals
 As industrialization proceeded in the 18th and 19th
centuries, it became common for adolescents to work
in factories.
 Machine operatives and manual workers on
factory production lines as well as in
administrative roles.
 Working life offered a degree of stability and
continuity that, for most young people, simply
does not exist today.
 Adolescent Work Before 1900

Various forms of prejudice were

commonplace, and girls and women
suffered from overt discrimination
in the workplace and elsewhere.
They were typically limited to jobs
considered "suitable" for women.
Whilst, in some ways, young people
enjoyed a relatively privileged labour
market position, they were also often
subject to workplace bullying, abuse
and humiliation.
 Patterns of Employment and Unemployment

 The journey from youth into adulthood is generally far

more complex and convoluted today than was the case in
previous generations and securing employment has
become difficult to obtain, especially for those with few
formal qualifications.
 For many young people, achieving the traditional
signifiers of adulthood has become disordered or
suspended – sometimes indefinitely (Ainley and Allen
2010). In many ways, these changes have been driven by
the collapse of much of the UK’s industrial base and the
demise of the traditional youth labour market.
 Patterns of Employment and Unemployment

Qualification inflation
Jobs that where open for those who
are high school levers are now been
taken over by graduates and persons
with post-graduate degrees.

Example: According to a report by

Meituan, 60,000 graduate students
and 170,000 undergraduates are
engaged in food delivery services.
 Patterns of Employment and Unemployment

Unemployment is a state of
joblessness, lacking employment
and enforced idleness. Officially an
unemployed person must be able
and willing to work, to be of an age
that is officially designated as
working age and to be actively
engaged in the search for
employment.
 WORK TRANSITIONS

 Earlier studies suggest that transitioning from education to

employment is linear, however that is very complex in our
society today. (Education inversion/mismatch Phenomenon)

Some people are even classified as high risk:

1. those who leave education early
2. those who enter employment without training
3. those who encounter a significant period of unemployment
 Adolescent Work in the 20th Century

Combining
Age of school with
Adolescence part-time job
1890–1920 1950–1990s
 WORK TRANSITIONS

Most American girls baby-sit as their first job

American boys usually do yard work as their first

work experience

For older adolescents, the majority of work is in

restaurants or retail sales

On average high school:

Sophomores work 15 hours a week
Seniors work 20 hours per week (Staff et al.,
2010)
Class discussion 1

1. Please list three career before

1900, between 1900-2000, and
after 2000 respectively.
2. Have you ever worked (part
time/volunteer/internship)?
What ‘s your first work experience
(time/payment)?
3. What’s your dream job?
 Work and Psychological Functioning
 Beyond 20 hours per week
Problems become considerably worse

 Beyond 10 hours per week

Anxiety
Depression
Sleep per night declines
Disruptive to eating and exercise habits

 Up to 10 hours per week

Not related to any psychological symptoms
Little effect on adolescent development
Relation Between Work Hours & School Performance
Beyond 10 hrs/week, the more adolescents work,
the poorer their school performance.

Figure 1
Benefits of Employment
Secondary school to college

• Fewer HK teens expect to complete University, compared to

Singapore, South Korean, etc.
• Only 18% of HK students admitted to publicly funded
universities, fewer than South Korea (80%), Taiwan (100%),
Singapore (26%).
 During Recessions
 During periods of recessions, youth unemployment is likely to be higher
than adult employment. This kind of trends has been reported in Norway,
Italy, Sweden, Iceland and the UK etc.,
The reasons for this could be because:
 At the time of transitioning from education into looking for Jobs,
employers may not be employing or due to recession are retrenching.

 They are more likely to be in temporary positions and are more likely to be
laid of since they are not eligible for significant redundancy payment.

 Because they occupy a different segment of the labor markets, employers

may perceive the young workers as energetic and older workers as
responsible.
 During Recessions

 As at 2008 in 30 OECD
countries 44% of persons
aged 15-24 were employed.
Due to the recession that hit
Europe and North America,
this fell drastically. EU
experienced an all-time low
of 32.9% (Scarpetta et al.,
2010).
What It’s Like To Graduate Into A Recession?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQwJLzpNxUM
&list=PLjFyPBXgW1obgsGcWALkj2cAiUYrpQU1
B&index=10&t=41s
 Left Behind
 The left behind are those with poor educational qualifications, reside
in remote or deprived areas and those from minority groups.
 Among the OECD countries, it is reported that 1 in 10 young persons
(15-24yrs) are left behind (Scarpetta et al., 2010).
 That means the situation will be worse in developing countries and
poor nations.
 N/B However, those who do not have education sometimes may have
good business ideas which can grow and they become employers of
those that have good jobs.
 Poorly Integrated
The poorly integrated are those who have appropriate
qualifications yet find it difficult to get a stable job, they
may begin to negotiate between temporary jobs and most of
the times they are just unemployed (Scarpetta et al., 2010).
1 in 5 young persons (15-24yrs) in OECD countries are
classified here. e.g France, Greece, Italy, Japan and Spain.
Similarly the cases will be worse in developing and poor
countries.
 The Forgotten Half (1987)

 This report focused on young Americans who do not attend

college

 Special focus was on the loss of manufacturing jobs that used

to provide well-paying jobs for unskilled workers

 A follow-up report (The Forgotten Half Revisited) published

10 years later in 1998 outlined that the prospects for the
forgotten half have become worse

Young people who do not attend college are “still in a free-fall of

declining earnings and diminished expectations” (p. xii)
 New Basic Skills

 Murnane and Levy (1997) concluded that six basic skills are necessary for
success at office jobs and factory jobs now available to high school graduates
1. Reading at a ninth-grade level or higher

2. Doing math at a ninth-grade level or higher

3. Solving semi-structured problems

4. Communicating orally and in writing

5. Using a computer for word processing & other tasks

6. Collaborating in diverse groups

Close to half of all 17-year-olds cannot read or do

math at the level needed to succeed at the new jobs
 Job Corps

 Began in 1964, this is a job training program for emerging

adults in the United States

 Currently serves 62,000 new participants aged 16 to 24 each

year in low-income areas all over the U.S.

 The research done on the Job Corps program indicated

numerous benefits to participants
 Employed more hours per week
 Earned $22 more per week
 Improved literacy and numerical skills
 More likely to earn a GED
 Less likely to be arrested
 Europe vs. the United States

 In European countries, school-to-work programs are a basic part of the

national government

 In the U.S. there is not a political consensus about the value of such programs

What’s your
opinion?
 Apprenticeship: Western Europe

 Apprenticeship is where an adolescent “novice” serves under contract to a

“master” who has substantial experience in a profession

 The German example: 60% of all 16- to 18-year-olds are in an apprenticeship

program

 Common features of apprenticeship programs are:

 Entry at age 16
 Apprenticeship lasting 2 to 3 years
 Continued part-time schooling while apprenticing
 School curriculum closely connected with training
 Training that takes place in the workplace
 Preparation for a career in a respected profession that provides an adequate income
 Apprenticeship: Western Europe

Apprenticeships in Germany
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=7gtYl77l4UQ
 Europe vs. US Systems
Distinction between Transparency and Permeability (Hamilton, 1994;
Hamilton & Hamilton, 2006)

Transparency: how clearly the path is marked through the

educational system leading to the labor market. People are well
informed the requirements for occupations.

Permeability: how easy it is to change directions within the

educational system. Easy to drop one educational and career path
and move to another.
American system: low in transparency and high in permeability. The
lack of occupational licensing requirements means that workers can easily switch employers and types of jobs, but
at the same time, the lack of requirements obscures the pathway to a particular job.

European system: high in transparency and low in permeability. In

Germany, occupational and trade associations, collaborating with employers, stipulate highly specific skill
requirements for licensing, which require apprenticeship training. The highly stratified and specialized
apprenticeship tracks impairs permeability.
 Donald Super Developmental self-concept

Donald Super’s career

model is based on the belief
that self-concept changes
over time and develops as a
result of experience.

As such, career

development is lifelong.
 Super’s five life and career development stages
Super extended Ginzberg’s work on life and career development stages from three to five,
and included different sub-stages.
Stage 1: Growth Age 0–14 Characteristics: Development of self-concept, attitudes, needs
and general world of work

Stage 2: Exploration Age 15–24 Characteristics: “Trying out” through classes,

work experience, hobbies. Tentative choice and skill development

Stage 3: Establishment Age 25–44 Characteristics: Entry-level skill building and

stabilisation through work experience

Stage 4: Maintenance Age 45-64 Characteristics: Continual adjustment process to

improve position

Stage 5: Decline Age 65+ Characteristics: Reduced output, prepare for retirement
 Growth: Beginning at Birth
Characteristics: Development of self-concepts through
identifying with key figures in family. Begin to learn behaviors
associated with self-help, social interaction, self-direction, goal
setting, and persistence.
Sub stages
Fantasy (4-10 yrs) Needs are a priority, fantasy role play is
important
Interests (11-12 yrs) Likes are key in aspirations and activities
Capacity (13-14 yrs) Abilities become clear and important with
job requirements being considered.
 Exploration: Around age 14

Characteristics: Self-examination, role try-outs, and

exploring of occupations begin to take place in school,
during leisure activities, and part-time work.
Sub stages
Tentative (15-17 yrs) Needs, interests, capacities, values,
and opportunities are all considered. Tentative choices
are made and tried out. Possible work roles are
identified.
Crystallizing a Vocational Preference
Transitions (18-21 yrs) Realistic considerations become
valuable while entering professional training or work
force and individual attempts to implement self-concept.
 Exploration: Around age 14
Specifying a Vocational Preference
Trial-Little Commitment (22-24 yrs.). A seemly appropriate
occupation has been found, a first job is tried as potential life
work. Commitment is provisional and if not appropriate, the
individual may begin process over of crystallizing, specifying
and implementing a new preference.
Tasks
Choosing a job preference
Developing a realistic self-concept
Learning more about opportunities
 Establishment: Around age 25
Characteristics :The individual has found their permanent and
appropriate field of work. These years are considered to be the most
productive and creative years of the life span.
Sub stages
Trial (with commitment - age 25-30) The individual settles down.
During this stage the individual begins to support themselves and
their family. They begin to develop a lifestyle, make use of their
abilities and past training. They may also begin to become involved
in meaningful interests.
Advancement (age 31-43) Individuals begin to become more
focused on their place in their occupation. They become interested
in their security and advancement. They also have the expectation
that they will become financially stable and move towards
challenging levels of responsibility and independence. This stage
may become very frustrating if advancement is not forth coming.
 Maintenance: Around age 44
Characteristics: The individual has already made a place
in the world of work, Now the concern is how to hold on
to it:
Little new ground is broken; the individual basically
maintains their established work patterns
Concerns
· Concerned about maintaining present status
· Concerned about competition from younger workers
in the advancement stage.
Tasks
Accepting new limitations
Identifying new problems to work on
Developing new skills
Focusing on essential activities
Presentation of achieved status and gains
 Decline: Around age 60 & up
Characteristics: During this stage there is a physical and/or
mental powers decline. Work activity begins to change or cease.
The individual gradually involves themselves in other life roles.
Sub stages
Disengagement (age 60-64) The individual may begin to ask for
their work to be delegated to other individuals. They may also
become more selective in what they do or how they participate
in activities. With the anticipation of retirement some begin to
plan carefully, and others gradually or suddenly become aware
of the fact of impending retirement and plan less carefully.
Retirement (age 65 & up) Individuals begin to give up their
jobs or careers. They begin to immerse themselves in other roles,
home life, hobbies, civic activities, and on occasion studies.
 Influences on Occupational Goals

Personality Characteristics
People seek occupations that they judge to be consistent
with their interests and talents
Gender
Gender has a substantial influence on job choice
 Influences on Occupational Goals

Class Discussion 2:
Why do gender differences in job choice
persist despite the fact that women now
exceed men in terms of overall
educational attainment?
Influences on Occupational Goals
 The remaining gender gaps
Men’s and women’s careers and pay are basically the
same when they start working, but they change when
children arrive.
The driving force behind the gender inequity that
remains in the American work force: Employers have
begun paying disproportionately more for long,
inflexible hours. Anyone who scales back for a time,
or who is unavailable on weekends or evenings, is at a
disadvantage. What people miss
In highly educated couples for one parent, usually the about the gender
father, to be on call at work, while the mother is on wage gap
call at home. Women don’t step back from work https://www.youtube.co
because they have rich husbands. They have rich m/watch?v=13XU4fMlN3
w
husbands because they step back from work.
 Holland Theory of Vocational Types

Approach gives explicit attention

to behavioral style or
personality types as the major
influence in career choice
development.
This is described as structurally
interactive.
 Holland Theory of Vocational Types
Common Themes:
 Occupation choice is an expression of personality and not
random
 Members of an occupational group have similar
personalities
 People in each group will respond to situations and
problems similarly
 Occupational achievement, stability and satisfaction
depends on congruence between one’s personality and job
environment
 Holland’s Theory of Personality Categories

Realistic - work with hands, machines, tools, active, practical,

adventurous
Occupations - construction, farming, architecture, truck driving, mail
carrier
Investigative – thought, analytical approaches, explore, knowledge,
ideas, not social
Occupations – biologist, chemist, dentist, veterinarian, programmer
Artistic – literary, musical, artistic activities, emotional, creative, open
Occupations – artist, musician, poet, interior designer, writer
 Holland’s Theory of Personality Categories

Social – train, inform, educate, help, supportive, avoid technical skills,

empathy, relationships
Occupations – social work, counseling, police officer
Enterprising – verbally skilled, persuasive, direct, leader, dominant
Occupations – lawyer, business executive, politician, TV producer
Conventional – rules and routines, provide order or direct structure,
great self control, respect power and status, punctual, orderly
Occupations – bank teller, clerk typist, cashier, data entry
 Holland’s Theory of Personality Categories

CAREER INTEREST AND PERSONALITY TESTS

https://www.truity.com/view/tests/personality-career
DISCOVER YOUR HOLLAND CODES
https://www.truity.com/test/holland-code-career-test
 NEET Youth

According to Williamson (2010), in 1996,

a Home Office official proposed ‘not in
education, employment or training’, and
thereafter the acronym NEET entered the
lexicon of policy discourse.
 NEET Youth (labels in different societies)
UK & Taiwan: NEET (nitezu 尼 特 族 ), Not currently
engaged in Employment, Education or Training
Hong Kong - Double loss youth (雙失青年);
Mainland China - “parasite single,” kenlaozu 啃老族 (the
tribe that relies on the old), or daidingzu 待定族 (the tribe of
undetermined);
Japan - “hikikomori”(those who have chosen acute social
withdrawal and school refusal);
Some Western countries named “Boomerang Kids,”
(National Policy Foundation 2008 cited in Tam et al, 2016).
NEET Youth (labels in different societies)
Stay-at-home children全職兒女
The children who are not attending school or
work and spend most of their time at home.
They may prepare for graduate school and
government job. Getting the admission of
graduate school or a government job means
“go ashore（shangan）”, meaning go to the
next station successfully.
 NEET Youth

Short-term vs Long-term NEETs

Short-term NEET because they are looking
after their children or parents, trying to develop
their artistic or musical talents, doing voluntary
work, or taking a gap year before higher
education.
Long-term NEET having difficulty in re-
integrating into the active part of the population
and society.

Mirko's story - a young boy not in education,

employment or training (NEET) in Italy Although the NEET category is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0uXEoQXpuE a flawed construct, it is not
without value.
 NEET Youth

 Despite the highly complicated make-up of the category,

those from deprived backgrounds are more likely to
become NEET than other young people and sustained
experience of being NEET is often associated with a range
of social problems.

 Since the start of the economic crisis, NEET status is more

and more affecting well-educated young people. NEET
rates differ strongly by gender, being typically much higher
for women than for men, especially in Turkey, Mexico
(unpaid domestic work and childcare).
 NEET Youth

Today, a time when good quality, secure

employment is increasingly scarce, being out of
work is often seen as a result of individual
deficits rather than as a consequence of a lack of
labour market opportunities.
 President Buhari’s phrase (Nigerian Youths are Lazy)
 NEET Policy Discourse

NEET as a policy discourse tends to locate

the responsibility for unemployment within
the individual rather than as deriving from
broader economic and labour market
conditions.

There is, in other words, an implicit

assumption that there is something inherently
problematic with NEET youth.
 STRUCTURATION THEORY (ST): Anthony
Giddens
Society should be understood in terms of
action and structure; a duality rather than
two separate entities.
Although the actions and beliefs of young
people can influence their life chances,
broader structures in society are also
profoundly important; becoming or
remaining NEET is inextricably linked
with this interplay of structure and
agency.
What can be done?

Vocational training system

Career guidance and counselling

Improve access to employment

Job Placement and Internships

Saying goodbye to being a NEET and learning to hang on

persistently
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKhTgfn0qt0
 The Hong Kong Home and Youth Affairs Bureau
The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau covers a wide spectrum of policy areas,
including civic education, youth policy, family-related matters, community building,
and district and community relations.
The Hong Kong Christian service and the hidden youth
According to HKCS, the best way to effectively cater for the hidden youth is
 to conduct a population survey,
 plan a comprehensive and long-term support in the form of hidden service
development, providing strategic and comprehensive supporting services.
The Hong Kong Federation of youth groups
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) is the city’s largest youth
service organization. Since its establishment in 1960, the HKFYG has been providing
opportunities and facilities for the social, educational, cultural, emotional and
physical development of young people.
Universities; Hong Kong Youth Association
Key Ideas
1. Adolescents in traditional cultures have typically
worked alongside their parents.
2. Because of globalization, virtually all traditional cultures
are moving toward industrialization.
3. People in traditional cultures, especially adolescents,
are being subjected to hard work in terrible conditions
for very low pay (e.g., on plantations, in factories, in
prostitution).
4. For American emerging adults who move to full-time
work after high school rather than going to college,
prospects have dimmed over the past 30 years.
Key Ideas
5. Most European countries have a national school-to-
work program that coordinates secondary
education with the need of employers, for example
through apprenticeships.
6. In the United States, school-to-work programs are
effective on a relatively small scale, but currently
there is little political support for a national program.
7. Occupational development theory focuses on
adolescence and emerging adulthood as a period
with crystallization, specification, and
implementation stages.
8. Holland’s theory describes six personality types and
the jobs that likely suit them. Most people can fit
into more than one type; most jobs can be
performed well by persons with a variety of
personality characteristics.
References
 Kosine, N., & Lewis, M. (2008). Growth and exploration:
Career development theory and programs of study.
Career and Technical Education Research, 33(3), 227-
243.
 Staff, J., Schulenberg, J. E., & Bachman, J. G. (2010).
Adolescent work intensity, school performance, and
academic engagement. Sociology of education, 83(3),
183-200.
 Tam, C. H., Busiol, D., & Lee, T. Y. (2016). Youth Neither in
Employment, Education, or Training. In Shek, D. T., Lee, T.
Y., & Merrick, J. (Eds.), Children and adolescents: Future
challenges (pp. 11-20). Hauppauge, New York: Nova
Science Publishers, Inc.