75 thousand young people at a great distance from the labour market

Four in ten unemployed young people in the Netherlands in the age category 15-26, who are not attending education or training programmes, are not looking for work and not immediately available for the labour market (75 thousand individuals). The main reasons are disability and illness. For young women - but rarely for young men - taking care of family or household is another important reason.

Distance to the labour market

In the group of more than 800 thousand young people in the age category 15-26 who were not attending education or training programmes, 183 thousand were unemployed. Four in ten unemployed young people are looking for a job and are immediately available for the labour market (71 thousand individuals). Their distance to the labour market can be defined as small. There is another group with a medium distance to the labour market; they are not looking for work or they are not immediately available for the labour market. One in five unemployed young people (37 thousand individuals) belong to this group. Lastly, there is a group of young people with a large distance to the labour market; more than four in ten unemployed young people are not looking for work and not immediately available for the labour market (75 thousand individuals).

Number of young people with a large distance to the labour market has grown in recent years

Since 2011, the number of young people with a large distance to the labour market has risen. The increase is recorded among men and women alike.

Ill or disabled

Young people not looking for work and not immediately available for the labour market most often mention illness or disability as the main reason (37 percent). For young women - but very rarely for young men - looking after family or household is also a reason.

Over the past decade, young women less and less often mentioned care for family or household as a reason why they are not looking for work or are not available for the labour market: 44 percent in 2005, versus 24 percent in 2014, but illness or disability were mentioned more often (30 and 44 percent respectively). The number of young women reporting illness or disability as their main reason increased from 13 thousand in 2005 to 17 thousand in 2014.

Young women and lower educated more often at a large distance from the labour market

Young women are overrepresented in the group of young people with a large distance to the labour market. In the groups with a small or medium distance to the labour market, the male share is only marginally higher than the female share. Generally, young people with a large distance to the labour market have a marginally lower education level. Broken down by ethnic background, there are no fundamental differences.