A profile of Canada’s NEETEST youth

You may have heard of the term “NEET,” that is, youth “not in employment, education or training” at a specific period in time. A recent StatCan study looks at Canada’s NEETEST youth—those who were “not in employment, education or training, excluding short transitions,” for at least one full year.

NEET is measured at a snapshot date (generally with the Labour Force Survey), which could capture short-term transitions between jobs or schooling. It is a point-in-time measure identifying individuals (typically aged 15 to 29) who are not working, studying or in vocational training. 

NEETEST is a complementary indicator that focuses on a longer period and also acknowledges unpaid caregiving as a productive activity. Youth are considered NEETEST if they were NEET (excluding unpaid caregiving) for one full year. 

Generally, from 2017 to 2022, almost twice as many youth aged 20 to 29 were considered NEET, compared with NEETEST. This difference is not surprising, since NEET is a snapshot measure, while NEETEST captures activity over a full year and excludes individuals providing unpaid care for others. 

Over the period of study, the NEET rate was usually 13% to 14%. The exception was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when several retail stores and restaurants (where many youth were employed) had to close or limit their operations for safety measures. The NEET rate jumped from 13.0% in 2019 to 19.2% in 2020 and remained relatively high in 2021 (14.6%).

By contrast, the NEETEST rate was more stable over the period, ranging from 7% to 8% throughout. The NEETEST rate rose slightly during the pandemic, from 7.4% in 2019 to 8.0% in 2020 and 2021. The relative stability of the NEETEST measure over time may not be entirely surprising, given its annual—rather than monthly—approach to measurement. The fact that the lockdowns related to the pandemic began around mid-March 2020 meant that youth could work as usual in the first two and a half months of 2020, and by 2021, many lockdown measures had eased. 

A larger share of young women aged 20 to 29 (8.5%) were NEETEST in 2022, compared with their male counterparts (6.7%). By contrast, the NEET rates were almost the same for men (12.5%) and women (12.4%), even though the definition of NEET includes individuals providing caregiving, which is more common among women.

The pattern by age group was similar. NEET rates were more or less the same for those aged 20 to 24 (12.6%) and 25 to 29 (12.4%). However, the NEETEST rate was higher for the older group (8.6%) than for the younger one (6.5%).

NEETEST youth were also relatively more concentrated among individuals with lower levels of education, especially those with no postsecondary credentials. For example, 15.7% of high school graduates with no further completed education were NEET, compared with 9.1% of bachelor’s degree graduates. By contrast, 7.6% of high school graduates with no further completed education were NEETEST, compared with 2.6% of bachelor’s degree graduates. 

Geographically, Quebec registered the lowest NEET rate (9.7%), while the highest rates were found in Newfoundland and Labrador (17.3%) and New Brunswick (16.2%). All other provinces registered NEET rates from 11.8% to 13.4%. 

As for the NEETEST rate, Quebec ranked second lowest, at 5.6%, behind Prince Edward Island (4.7%). Most other provinces posted substantially lower NEETEST rates compared with their respective NEET rates, except for Manitoba (12.5%) and Saskatchewan (13.2%)—both similar to their respective NEET rates.

Finally, NEET and NEETEST rates varied considerably by community size. For example, 11.9% of youth in Canada’s largest urban centres were NEET, compared with 15.0% of youth living in towns or in rural areas. By contrast, 6.8% of youth in large urban areas were NEETEST, compared with 12.4% of youth in rural and small-town Canada.