Page 70 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 2

CPS1431 Salima M.

The determining factors of NEET status in
Morocco: from a gender-approach towards a new
indicator
Salima Mansouri
High-Commission for Planning, Rabat, Morocco

Abstract
Youth aged from 15 to 29 years old represent the quarter (25.2%) of the
Moroccan population in 2017, where more than the third of them (35%) were
Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). A first distribution of NEET
youth aged from 15 to 29 by sex shows that 78.5% are women, furthermore,
55.2% of young women find themselves in the NEET population while only
15% of men do, which means that being NEET is a female phenomenon.
Moreover, detailed analysis shows a great gender related heterogeneity of the
NEET young population when it comes to economic activity: 89.2% of NEET
women are inactive when 73.9% of NEET men are unemployed. The present
study tries to draw the determining factors of falling in NEET category taking
gender into account, and discussing eventually the need of a new indicator to
monitor the goal number 8 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Keywords
NEET; Gender; Logistic regression; SDGs; Youth.

1. Introduction
Youth represents a demographic potential to be valued for a sustainable
development. In Morocco, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) in
2017, about a quarter (25.2%) of the population is aged from 15 to 29 years
old, this part of the population is unfortunately characterised by a low level
of education, as about the third don’t have any diploma, moreover, barely 4
out of 10 are economically active; with an unemployment rate that is around
24%. Furthermore, 35% of youth find themselves in NEET (Not in
Employment, Education or Training) situation. This alarming situation is
urging the country to establish many policies and a National Strategy to
improve youth employability and their integration into society. On an
international scale, reducing the NEET rate is one of the major targets of the
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2030 Agenda for sustainable development. In-depth analysis of the LFS data
reveals some structural disparities that make the NEET population far from
being homogeneous: 78.5% of NEET are women, 89.2% of NEET women are
inactive and 73.9% of NEET men are unemployed, more than two-thirds of

The NEET rate is “the percentage of the population of a given age group and sex who is not
1
employed and not involved in further education or training” (International Labour Office)
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