To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning (i) to detail the current data sources which provide information on young people who are not in education, employment or training; (ii) to detail how this data is disaggregated to identify and confirm specific characteristics; and (iii) for his assessment of the parameters of employment and training as specific to this definition.

The main data sources which provide information on young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) are the Labour Force Survey and the 2011 census data. In addition, there are a number of government surveys which, when pooled together, yield information on young people who are employed, unemployed or economically inactive.

The Department of Education school census yields information on young people in education, as does the further education college database and the higher education institution databases (higher education information is provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency which comes to my officials for further analysis).

These data sources hold different types of information such as gender, age, subject studied, etc. This range of data allows these characteristics to be cross-referenced with each other. The census information contains much more detailed background information on the family structure and household characteristics in which the young person lives. The Labour Force Survey source only contains information on the gender of the individual and whether or not they are unemployed or economically inactive. However, the Labour Force Survey information is updated quarterly.

The definition of NEET used in these analyses is a UK definition and conforms to the International Labour Organisation definition of employment and unemployment. The DFP/NISRA Labour Market Statistical Bulletin for October to December 2013 (published 28/2/2014) provides the following definition of a young person as being NEET:

“A person is defined as NEET if they are aged 16 to 24 and not in employment, education or training (full-time or part-time).”

Within the estimate, a person is considered to be in education or training (part-time or full-time) if they:

are completing an apprenticeship;

are engaged on a Government employment or training programme;

are working or studying towards a qualification;

have had job-related training or education in the last four weeks; or,

are enrolled on an education course and are still attending or waiting for term to (re)start.

Therefore, anybody aged 16 to 24 who is not in the above forms of education or training (part-time or full-time) and who is not in employment, is considered to be NEET. The definition of “in employment”, as recommended by the International Labour Organisation is anyone (aged 16 or over) who has done at least one hour’s paid work in the week prior to interview, or has a job they are temporarily away from (e.g. on holiday).

Previous NEETs figures produced in relation to Northern Ireland included those aged 16 to 24 who were in part-time education. However, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) first published quarterly NEETs figures for the UK in May 2013, based on the above definition. This was the first time Northern Ireland NEETs figures had been published and in order to allow comparisons with the UK regions, the official ONS definition has been applied since then.

To enable the Northern Ireland Executive to compare its performance with other jurisdictions in addressing the NEET issue, there has to be consistency in the definitions used.