Methods to Estimate the Structure and Size of the “Neet” Youth

In 2013, in EU-27, were employed only 46.1% of the young people aged 15-29 years, this being the lowest figure ever recorded by Eurostat statistics. In Romania, in the same year, were employed only 40.8% of the young people aged 15-29 years. According to Eurostat, in 2013, in Europe, over 8 million young people aged 15-29 were excluded from the labour market and the education system. This boosted the rate of NEET population, aged 15-29, from the 13% level recorded in 2008 to 15.9% in 2013, with significant variations between the Member States: less than 7.5% in the Netherlands, more than 20% in Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Greece and Spain. In Romania, under the impact of the financial crisis, the rate of NEET population increased from 13.2% in 2008 to 19.1% in 2011 and 19.6% in 2013. This paper presents a brief analysis of the labour market in the European Union and the particularities of the youth labour market in Romania. It analyses, for the pre-crisis period and under its impact, the structure, the education and the gender composition of NEET groups. Some stochastic methods are used to estimate the structure and size of the NEET rates and of the youth unemployment rate in Romania.