NEET YOUTH IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RELATIONS: A NEW CHALLENGE FOR THE SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEM

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) youth in the context of the transformation of modern socio-economic relations and defines it as a new systemic challenge for the national model of social protection. The relevance of the topic is determined by the growing scale of youth economic passivity under the influence of structural imbalances in the labor market, educational inequality, demographic changes, and digitalization of the economy. It is substantiated that the NEET generation is not a homogeneous social group, rather it is formed under the influence of a complex set of economic, institutional, territorial, and gender factors, which complicates the development of universal mechanisms of political response. Conceptual approaches in foreign and domestic studies regarding the content of the NEET category have been analyzed, in particular in the measurement of human capital and social alienation. It has been established that the long stay of young people outside the sphere of employment and education leads to the accumulation of social risks, loss of professional skills, deepening of poverty, and the formation of dependence on transfer support. It is emphasized that the growth of the NEET share transforms the traditional functional model of social protection, which has historically been oriented toward compensating income loss rather than preventing social exclusion and activating the potential of young people. The article proves the need to reorient the social protection system from passive tools to integrated mechanisms of active social policy that combine educational, labor, social, and psychological interventions. It is argued that the adaptation of the social protection system should involve individualized support trajectories, the development of social partnership institutions, the implementation of early intervention programs, and the strengthening of intersectoral coordination.