Paper short abstract:

We want to refuse the concept "NEET" and propose the concept "No NEET" when referring to young people with irregular trajectories in order to emphasize their active role within society since the informants were not apathetic and passive but active and committed to socially contribute to society.

Paper long abstract:

The economic crisis in Spain has led to a significant increase in youth

unemployment rate. At the same time, the Spanish Media started to use the label "NEET" to refer to

those young people who neither studied nor worked, implying that they were the only

responsible for their situation since they were too idle to get a job.

We wanted to discuss the concept "NEET" and see how young people from vulnerable

backgrounds with irregular trajectories do cope with their lives and socially participate through

youth organisations. We have conducted 21 interviews with young people who have had irregular trajectories in the past 2 years but at the

present moment they were actively participating and taking responsibilities in a youth

organization. This stigma, as well as others we have detected ('too alternative' for young people

fighting the system and 'migrants' for immigrants), made them feel a bit outsiders and,

sometimes, led them to drug use. However, the youngsters declared they have learnt a

lot after getting involved in those

organisations, and those learnings empowered them to build their own projects. They also

pointed another key element: the opportunity of building a relationship with someone else

helped them overcome difficult situations.

The results obtained led us us refuse the concept "NEET" and propose the concept "No NEET"

when referring to young people with irregular trajectories in order to emphasize their active

role within society since the informants were not apathetic and passive but active and

committed to socially contribute to society.