Young people NEET in Italy: Exploring the phenomenon and evolving policies

Italy is among the European countries with the highest number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). Despite the attempts of the European institutions to reduce this phenomenon, the implementation of policies is faced with the fact that this category refers to non-uniform conditions, as well as country-specific institutional features and labour market structure. In order to analyse how the NEET phenomenon has been addressed in Italy, this chapter illustrates its specificities and traces the evolution of the policies at national level—from the Youth Guarantee to the most recent package of measures, the NEET Working plan. The discussion highlights the elements of policy learning that emerge from the new agenda, while some limitations and challenges seem to persist. Finally, some research avenues are outlined to fully understand the deployment and effects of the new measures.