Special attention has recently been paid to social capital as a risk factor in becoming NEET (young people neither in employment, nor in education or training). There has been a particular focus upon relationships of trust which represent an important resource for those young people who are often described as deficient along other vectors such as human and financial capital, especially during an economic crisis. Empirical research designed to test how social capital affects the school-to work transition of young people is rare, in most cases qualitative and with a focus on single countries rather than on the EU as a whole. Therefore, this research aims to answer the following questions: to what extent are European countries vulnerable to recessionary shocks which have impacted NEETs , and have they been able to recover after the crisis? Which factors have contributed to reduce the risk of becoming NEET in the recent economic crisis? To what extent can the individual social capital endowment facilitate the school-to work transition of young people and prevent them becoming NEET? The results will help to highlight active labour market policies which can stimulate demand for young employees, and appropriate strategies which could be shared at European level for reducing the occurrence of NEETs.
Empirical research designed to test how social capital affects the school-to work transition of young people is rare, in most cases qualitative and with a focus on single countries rather than on the EU as a whole, because of reduced data availability (Mouw, 2003; Borlagdan, 2015). The EU-SILC survey certainly offers a new opportunity for research in this specific field. As a matter of fact, it represents an important reference source for comparative studies whose purpose is to assess the determinants of individual behaviour because it provides comparable and high quality cross-sectional indicators for all the EU countries.The results will help to highlight active labour market policies which can stimulate demand for young employees and appropriate strategies which could be shared at European level for reducing the occurrence of NEETs.