Family Background and Persistence in Neet status

The weight of NEET people is increasing in recent years (more considerably in Italy than in the European average), and the prolonged stay of these individuals out of the labour market could adversely affect not only future working and well-being scenarios but also the pension condition. The aim of this paper is to analyse the family background surrounding these young people, so as to highlight the economic and social context where NEETs tend to develop; in particular, we try to understand how family environment is being seen as an informal welfare system and if that can somehow have a positive effect on the entry of these young people into the labour market or if, conversely, there is a sort of “selection mechanism” of the most disadvantaged families that results in making the exit of individuals from the NEET status more difficult. In addition to gender and the level of education, data suggest that NEET status is affected even by some family variables, such as economic (family) distress and (the lack of) state transfers, sometimes replaced by the “blanket” of the family welfare state.