NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training)
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Do Men Need To ‘Man Up’? Men were expected to perform at work, protect their families and provide a roof over their heads.
Men in strife Turn on your TV or check your news on the web. Here’s yet another footballer in strife. He’s taken some illegal substance. His name doesn’t matter. Nor does the type of football. And so he has to go away and get better. It seems typical of our times that the word detox has become part of everyday currency. Stories everywhere of men in trouble of one kind or another: fighting on the street; soldiers committing atrocities; men abusing drugs and not taking care of their health. And work is part of the trouble. Once it was true that men worked, and work was what men did. In my book Fathers, Sons and Lovers I interviewed men who had grown up from the 1930s to the 90s. Men worked on the railway, or on the farm. They needed muscles to do the work and keep their families fed. Men were respected as breadwinners; today this term is almost extinct. Men were expected to perform at work, protect their families; and provide a roof over their heads. The three Ps, if you like. The GFC hit men hard But the Great Financial Crisis turned men upside down. Countries like the USA, Spain, and the UK saw big financial crashes. Industries already in decline worldwide were heavy industries, and man-heavy too: steel-making, shoe-making, munitions, and the auto industry. These took heavy hits during the GFC. Globalisation and automation have pushed the decline of manual labour (i.e. in one sense, labour for men to do). Among European men, there was an 11.7 percent rise in suicides in the 15-24 age group. In the Americas, the biggest increase was among men aged 45-64, which saw a rise of 5.2 per cent. We saw earlier that men were expected to provide. Many men couldn’t provide a roof over their families’ heads anymore. In the USA, more than 9.3 million homeowners went through foreclosure, surrendered their home to a lender or sold their home in some kind of distress sale. The figures come from the US National Association of Realtors, hardly a source of wild radicalism. The pattern was so widespread that” “leaving the keys in the letter box” became a familiar phrase. Working-class men are frustrated. It’s been suggested that white working-class anger has contributed to widespread disenchantment in the USA with the system of government and the rise of Trump. It’s not fair to blame ‘angry white men’ for Trump’s success. Only around half of all those who could, decided to vote. Around two percent of Americans are ‘felons’, not entitled to vote. This means about 1 in every 13 African-Americans. About half of all white women voted for Trump, according to the New York Times’ exit polls. In any case, it does seem true that there is fear and anxiety among working-class people about the distress in many parts of the western economy. Here in Australia, we have seen our car-making industry disappear, along with all the small industries that it supported. Australians’ underwear, pajamas, T-shirts, shorts and so on are made in China, Bangla Desh, Barbados- anywhere but locally. And we see every day that Australian property is sold to China, the UK, USA and other foreign countries, including historic homesteads and swathes of agricultural land. The World Economic Forum says jobs in decline include office work, manufacturing and production, construction and mining, and media. Demand for skilled, savvy people in business operations, teaching at all levels and personal care will increase. Many of the declining jobs are male-heavy. The world is turning: and it’s not in favour of men as we know it. Certainly not poorly-skilled working-class men who are not too strong on empathy and communication. Boys in strife Meanwhile, where are boys at? Research says teachers complain that boys are far too often lagging behind in behaviour and learning. In school, those in trouble are mostly boys. I ask schools “Your discipline list- would you say 90 per cent boys?” The usual answer is “More”. Common complaints are that boys are loud, noisy, and rude. They resist authority. They get into stupid fights with teachers. I watch them in classrooms arguing who is going to sit where. Playgrounds are filled with noisy boys shouting and competing to excel. The girls are found in places like libraries, or sitting under trees. And when it comes to competition in exams, debating or joining clubs, the girls are excelling. Particular difficulties are found among white working-class and dark-skinned boys. OECD reports say that girls’ grades are better, they are more cooperative in school and they excel in many school activities. Meanwhile, boys are outstandingly low on basic standards like reading and writing. They spend far more time than girls in online games and sport. Historically, boys’ energies and idealism have been captured by many: by the Jesuits; by Muslim radicals; and by the Nazis. Our goal must be putting their energies to benefit humankind. Helping boys achieve Some solutions to boys’ problems in school are being found. My own Report on Best Practice in Boys’ Education suggested a much more active classroom in which boys’ energies were not contained, but harnessed to use boys’ restless energy. Many other solutions were suggested along the same lines. A program called The Rite Journey provides some steps and a sense of the journey a boy needs to take before he can feel confident about being a man. The program is running in schools and youth organisations in many places from Australia to Belgium. And it’s important that men can feel they confident and secure, thoughtful and respectful of others: women; people who don’t identify as average; people from other cultures. In brief, men who can meet otherness and not slide into resentment. Boot camps The idea of a boot camp has been proposed in New South Wales for boys and girls who aren’t in employment or training (“NEETs”). Sixty five million dollars will be offered to private operators to give unemployed young people literacy, mentoring and careers advice.‘Bludger busters’ was the terminology used: and in Australia, a bludger is a loafer, the lowest form of life after a cockroach. Lo and behold, nearly the same terminology was used in the UK for the same ‘problem’. Never mind that the research on mentoring is full of cautions about quick fixes and easy answers being unsuitable for those who have fallen at earlier hurdles. Never mind that we have had untold problems recently in Australia with shonky private operators taking government subsidies and graduating tiny percentages of students with very few skills. No matter that this sum of money might go far to help build more classrooms, or close the backlog on repairs for the State schools. Conclusion The difficulty is knowing where men and boys should turn. If we don’t want men to be masculine, what’s left? A typical expression of this was in a class at uni. “Jason, I’d like you to be less masculine”, said a girl. “Oh, so you want me to be a poofter” [that is, homosexual], was the reply from an average fellow. Where’s the safe space for men to explore their ideas, and their feelings, and their sexuality? How do we encourage boys to expand their ideas of masculinity out of the empty-headed male bravado we see displayed by countless action heroes from Tarzan to the Terminator? Some feminists seem to bridle at the very idea of helping boys improve. But if we want a better society, helping boys grow up thoughtfully is an essential part of the equation. We don’t want our daughters and grand-daughters marrying grunting thugs and abusers. In a better world, we’d all like to see men talk through their issues, and take stock of themselves and their health. And in sum, be happy, confident people who can communicate with loved-ones and live fulfilling lives.
One in eight young people in Britain not in work, education or training: ONS
They are known as Neets, young British people who are not in education, employment or training, and a report Thursday shows their numbers are growing. A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals there are now 857,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in Britain classed as Neets, representing almost one in eight of their peer group. Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg described them as the disengaged. The ONS figures say the number has increased from the total between April and June and is up 3,000 from a year earlier. Among the 11.9 percent of young people classed as Neet in Britain, 43 percent are looking for work and available for work and classified as unemployed. The remainder is either not looking for work, are not available for work and are classified as economically inactive. ONS say despite the rise seen in the number of NEETS in 2016, the number has fallen since 2011 when almost 17 percent of 16-to-24 years old were not in education, employment or training. Of those actively seeking work, around 226,000 are males aged 16 to 24 and 143,000 are females in the same age range. Organizations and charities have been working hard to help the large number of young people, seen as outside the system. In a recent commentary in Britain, OECD reported how today's youth have been hit particularly hard and have been struggling to make a successful start to their working lives in very difficult times. The commentary added that beyond the moral dilemma, the opportunity cost of having large numbers of young people isolated from society runs into billions of US dollars. One charity working to help Neets is London-based UK Youth, which has recently introduced various schemes for young people. UK Youth CEO Anna Smee told Xinhua: "Through our innovative programs, apprenticeships and national network of members we support young people through their social development journey to help them get involved, grow and learn and ultimately gain independence." "Just last month, we launched Money for Life, a three-year program to provide high-quality training and crucial support systems specifically designed to help young people who are Neet," she added. Over the next three years, Money for Life will deliver community-based and digital peer-education training to over 34,000 16-25 year olds vulnerable to financial exclusion and a further 44,000 young people will receive advice, guidance and support online.
House of Lords calls for education shake-up Government accused of ‘failing’ young people who do not follow academic route into work
Members of the House of Lords have called on the government to do more to to help the “overlooked middle” of children in Britain’s education system. More than half of children do not follow an academic route into work after the age of 16 and have inadequate alternatives, harming social mobility and depriving employers of workers, according to a report by the House of Lords committee on social mobility. The peers called for compulsory teaching of the national curriculum beyond age 14 to be scrapped and for a new careers service. Pupils aged between 14 and 19 should be taught a core curriculum with tailored academic or vocational elements. The new national careers service should be independent of schools and the responsibility of a single minister. Jean Corston, who chairs the committee, said: “The current system for helping people move from school to work is failing most young people. They are simply not being adequately prepared for the world of work. This significantly disadvantages a huge number of young people and limits their opportunity for social mobility.” Successive governments have focused on improving university access and GCSE and A-level results. There have also been sustained efforts to help young people who are “Neets” — not in education, employment or training. But most young people fall between these groups. Most achieve middling GCSE grades. Of 1.3m 16- to 17-year-olds, less than half started A levels in 2014, and by 2015 less than half of those again sat at least one exam. Two-thirds do not have a degree in their early 20s. The peers said that the government had “failed a generation” of young people who do not follow the traditional academic route into work. It also criticised the emphasis on apprenticeships. Government proposals last month to turn all state schools into academies did little to address the “complex and incoherent” system. The result is that many young people “drift into further studies or their first job” with little prospect of progression. “A young person considering their options for further education or employment is presented with gobbledegook,” said Baroness Corston. “It is totally unclear to them how they can get the skills needed for a successful career.” Peers said that the gap between funding for those following an academic route and those leaving education was too wide and called for more support for those who decide not to go to university. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. All rights reserved. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
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1 A survey shows that about 30 percent of Chinese youth are NEETs -- people currently "not in education, employment or training," and are supported by their parents, the Guangzhou Daily reported.
2 To tackle this problem, Jing Tiankui, a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former director of the Institute of Sociology, suggested the government and social organizations offer professional trainings to the NEETs, create more jobs and build a good environment for them to start their own business.
3 NEETs refer to people who are currently "not in education, employment or training," and are supported by their parents.