Calitatea Vieții

Introduction

2025-10-01T16:36:56+00:00

The Policy and Service Creation – Necessary Shifts for Working With NEETs From the Perspective of Young People and Professionals

2025-04-13T20:05:27+00:00

The European Commission's Youth Guarantee initiative has brought renewed attention to the increasingly complex support needs of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEETs), particularly as they navigate key transitional phases in their lives. This study contributes to the understanding and evaluation of policies aimed at this demographic, as well as shifts in the broader policy landscape intended to enhance the effectiveness of interventions and ensure that support aligns more closely with young people’s perceived needs. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with youth in NEET situations and professionals working with them in Estonia, the study underscores the necessity of adopting more community-based and participatory approaches to support interventions.

Incorporating more inclusive, empowering, and confidence-building principles−such as the need for a minimal information flow requirement, situation-based communication, meaning-based change management, co-creation and reciprocal partnership, one-shop change management, a need-based rebalancing, and long-term legitimate expectation can play a crucial role in preventing the marginalization and social exclusion of target groups. These principles are essential for improving access to information, education, support services, and labour market opportunities. Realizing such an approach requires national-level strategic agreements that shift the focus of Member States from isolated actions to comprehensive implementation strategies, paving the way for the co-creation of an integrated, cross-sectoral support ecosystem. The article concludes with practical policy recommendations that are scalable at the European level.

A Realist Evaluation of the Use of European Funds To Address the Needs of Young People in NEET Situation in Romania

2025-03-31T20:17:11+00:00

In 2023, Romania recorded the higher percentage of young people (15−29 years old) in EU who were neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET): 19.3%. Almost no progress was made between 2014 and 2023, despite substantial funding available within the Human Capital Operational Programme 2014−2020, over EUR 430 million, the existence of the EU Youth Guarantee policy framework and the commitment of the Romanian Government to address the problem. The article presents a realist evaluation approach and builds upon the findings of the evaluations of the Human Capital Operational Programme, focusing on explaining the limited sustainable results delivered for young people in the NEET situation. It asks what contextual factors and mechanisms contributed to the programme results and what is explaining the shortcomings in achieving the planned targets. Findings underline that limited outcomes are explained by substantial delays, associated with political instability and institutional capacity issues, legislative bottlenecks, the limited flexibility of funding management, restrictive or too ambitious requirements from projects, the limited adaptation of support provided to the needs of young people in the NEET situation, especially to the needs of young women.

Inclusive Education: Factors Influencing Atypical Academic Pathways of Youth in Portugal

2025-03-30T17:51:35+00:00

This research, framed theoretically within studies on school success, aims to generate knowledge about the successful academic pathways of students at risk of school failure and social exclusion in compulsory education. Employing a qualitative approach, a multi-case study was conducted in a municipality located in the north-eastern region of Portugal, within the framework of two national education interventions: the Priority Intervention Educational Territories (TEIP) and the Choices Programme, aimed to promote school success and social inclusion in formal and non-formal educational contexts, respectively. The qualitative data involved content analysis of biographical interviews with children and young people. The findings reveal how maternal involvement, teacher recognition, and non-formal educational activities play a decisive role in reshaping atypical academic pathways, and in supporting academic success among disadvantaged youth. These results offer insights for the design of educational practices and policies that strengthen socio-educational support systems to improve school outcomes and educational quality.