Paper abstract:

Globally, one-fifth of individuals aged 15–24 belong to a NEET population (not in employment, education or training). NEETs have become an increasingly important phenomenon, especially for policy-makers concerning significant concepts such as social exclusion and inequality, gender, or poverty among youth. While the rate of NEET youth is comparatively low in Kazakhstan, its conceptualization has not yet come to a consensus in the academic field as well as in national policy. This paper seeks to contribute to the debate by addressing the risk factors associated with NEET youth in Kazakhstan. It has been revealed from the literature that micro-level risk factors such as being female, low educational level, poor socio-economic background, lack of support in schools, poor school-to-work transition, and health-related problems significantly predict the NEET condition. This paper will use data from the Labour Force Survey to examine factors that contribute to the NEET status and will further explore those factors in-depth in Karaganda city which shows the highest NEET rate across Kazakhstan. Determining the risk factors is significant to design better targeted preventive and intervening policy strategies towards NEET youth.