This supplemental issue focuses on the challenges associated with European rural NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) youth socio-economic inclusion. For NEETs, the transition from childhood to adulthood is both complex and fascinating, fraught with risks of marginalization and precarity. Such challenges have been compounded by assumptions regarding homogeneity evident in publications by the EU and the OECD which place all NEETs within age ranges without recognition of the complexity of life in this demographic. In 2019, across the then EU28 member-states and non-EU states, the proportion of NEETs was recorded as higher in rural regions when compared with the same rate in towns and suburbs or cities (Eurostat, 2020). Notably, an uneven NEET distribution by the degree of urbanization was evident in many eastern or southern European countries, with gaps between cities and rural areas ranging from 10 to more than 20\u2009percentile points. Clearly, there is a need to explore the greater proportions of rural NEETs that occur in European countries with sub-protective welfare regimes and fail short to support school-to-work transition among the most vulnerable youths (Schoon & Heckhausen, 2019).<\/p>\n
You can read here all the papers published in this Special issue.<\/p>\n