According to OECD 2025 data, 27.12 percent of young people in the 15-29 age group in Türkiye are neither in education nor in employment. Considering that the OECD average is approximately 13 percent, Türkiye's rate exceeds twice the average. According to TÜİK data, this rate reaches 30.9 percent among young women.
Üsküdar University Head of Sociology Department Prof. Barış Erdoğan addressed the economic, educational, and social dimensions of the problem defined as “NEET" (Not in Education, Employment, or Training).
“There is long-term improvement in Türkiye, but the problem persists”
Prof. Barış Erdoğan stated that the figures in Türkiye are quite striking and pointed out that the rate of young people who are neither in education nor in employment is more than double the OECD average.
Prof. Erdoğan said, “27 percent of young people aged 15-29 in Türkiye are neither in employment nor in education. What does this mean? Approximately one in four young people is outside these two areas. The OECD average is around 13 percent. As Türkiye, we are more than double that.”
However, Prof. Erdoğan, indicating that the problem has persisted for many years and there has been a certain improvement compared to the past, stated:
“There is also a detail that often goes unnoticed here. We see and interpret this as a very bad figure, but the rate of NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) in Türkiye is not constantly increasing. If we look at past years, this rate was around 38 percent in Türkiye in 2000, and it has decreased to 27 percent today. So, in fact, there is a long-term improvement, but there is still a problem.”
“It is not right to categorize all these young people as unemployed”
Prof. Erdoğan stated that not all young people who are neither in education nor in employment are in the same conditions, noting that this group has different characteristics within itself.
“These young people are indeed neither in employment nor in education, but to what extent can we categorize all of them as unemployed? Because some are looking for work, some are not. There are those among them who have given up on finding a job. Others, especially young women, are excluded from working life due to care responsibilities at home. Also, something that is overlooked in such studies is that some informal workers are also included in these figures. Perhaps it might be possible to reduce this figure by one or two points. But, of course, it is also a fact that there is a major problem.”
The incompatibility between the education system and the labor market is a significant problem
Prof. Erdoğan stated that the disengagement of young people from education and working life cannot be attributed to a single cause, adding that the incompatibility between the education system and the labor market is a significant problem.
Prof. Erdoğan said, “There isn't a single reason here; there are many. There are economic reasons, problems related to educational life, and social conditions. All are intertwined. Today, this is not a situation unique to Türkiye; there is now a serious incompatibility between education and working life. Young people study for years, finish university, get diplomas, but when they graduate, they struggle to find a suitable job.”
“If I can't build my own life, why am I working?”
Emphasizing that young people expect not only to have a job but also to gain economic independence through work, Prof. Erdoğan said, “The second issue is working life conditions. Young people don't just want to find a job; when they work, they also expect to be able to make a living and build their own lives. If, despite working, they still continue to receive financial support from their families, they ask this question: ‘Why am I working? Why am I going to work? If I can't build my own life independently, what's the point of my work?’ Young people often feel that they don't get fair compensation for their work. I think this is also one of the important problems.”
“It is wrong to see the expectations of young people as laziness”
Stating that expectations from working life have significantly differed across generations, Prof. Erdoğan said, “There was a widespread belief during our generation's youth. If you get a good education and work hard, you will build a better life for yourself. Of course, there were inequalities back then, but the expectation of social advancement through education was very strong. Today, some young people see that this relationship no longer functions as it used to. They finish university but cannot find a job, and even if they do, they cannot rent a house with the money they earn. They struggle to establish an independent life. As a result, they have to postpone their future plans.”
Prof. Erdoğan stated that he does not agree with the criticisms that young people do not like to work or want to earn money the easy way, saying, “Here, I object to a criticism directed at young people. It is sometimes said that young people do not like to work, that they want to earn money the easy way, through Instagram or other platforms, or through start-ups. Today's young people do not only expect a salary in their working lives. They expect their work to be meaningful and to be able to allocate time for themselves. Ideas like ‘I'll go at 8 AM and stay until 6 PM’ like in old times have begun to change. Technology has also started to provide opportunities for this. They value being able to protect their freedom. It is wrong to see expectations as laziness.”
“A process similar to learned helplessness can emerge in young people”
Prof. Erdoğan stated that society expects success from young people, but the conditions to achieve this success have not been adequately created, adding that the gap between expectations and real-life conditions is growing.
Explaining that this situation can turn into a process similar to learned helplessness in some young people, Prof. Erdoğan said, “They get a job, can't earn enough money or feel satisfied, and eventually start thinking that their efforts won't change anything. But, of course, it may not be entirely accurate to attribute these to all young people. Still, many young people are studying and working with great effort, trying to open new paths for themselves. I think the issue is not that young people stop dreaming, but that their confidence in being able to achieve their dreams is increasingly weakening today.”
“Social roles are influential in young women remaining outside education and employment”
Evaluating the fact that approximately 31 percent of young women are neither in education nor in employment according to TÜİK data, Prof. Erdoğan emphasized that this picture is also linked to gender inequalities.
“This actually shows that the problem in Türkiye is not only economic but also related to gender inequalities. In Türkiye, traditional social roles are quite dominant, especially for women. Particularly care responsibilities... Still, many young women in Türkiye primarily see caring for children at home, that is, perhaps their brother's child, perhaps their siblings' children, perhaps their own child, the elderly, and the sick as their primary job. Families also exert pressure on women in this regard. This naturally significantly hinders young women, in particular, from continuing their education or participating in working life.”
“There is a significant amount of women's labor that statistics do not show”
Prof. Erdoğan stated that care and service activities carried out within the home are mostly not compensated and therefore not reflected in employment statistics, adding that the obstacles to young women's participation in working life are multi-dimensional.
“There is labor here that statistics do not show us. We say they are not working, but in reality, they are seriously putting in time at home. Perhaps they are caring for an elderly person, perhaps performing domestic services. But since we do not see this as a job or because these are not compensated, we largely categorize them as unemployed.”
Prof. Erdoğan explained other social conditions that lead to women remaining outside education and employment as follows:
“Families' expectations for their daughters are also different. They want early marriages, there is discrimination in the workplace, and childcare facilities are inadequate. For these types of reasons, women cannot work. Sometimes families also do not want their daughters to work in a workplace, finding it unsafe. Due to these types of problems, women in Türkiyeare significantly less likely than men to be in employment or education. This is also one of Türkiye's unique problems.”
