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A myriad of factors influence young people’s vulnerability and the likelihood of becoming NEET. Moreover, the share of young NEETs in European countries is very high. Institutional and governmental initiatives aiming to promote the inclusion of young people in the labour market are of paramount importance. However, the socio-economic conditions and the level of vulnerability alongside other socio-demographic characteristics are likely to influence the extent to which young people ultimately engage with such programmes. The current study ascertains whether previous experience of informal work increases young people’s propensity to participate in programmes offered by public employment services, such as the Youth Guarantee Programme. Indeed, we hypothesise that the experience of working without a contract makes young people more aware and concerned about the risk of remaining trapped in a spiral of vulnerable jobs. To test this, we used data from a survey of 4,273 NEETs and focused on Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The study’s findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between past experience in the informal economy and engagement with the Youth Guarantee. Besides contributing to the literature, the study can also contribute to policy making and practitioners’ assessment of the relative efficacy of Youth Guarantee initiatives among different subgroups of young NEET and tailor the interventions accordingly. In other words, the outcomes of this study should signal to governments that greater efforts should be made to implement initiatives reaching out to young people, as well as acting to reduce the precariousness in job contracts, which negatively impacts their quality of life.

Subjective well-being is of paramount importance when support is offered to young individuals seeking employment and social inclusion in general. The present study looks at different dimensions of youth well-being and the growing demands for skills to enable labour market integration. Based on survey data, this article examines the relationships between the role of public employment services in providing support and their impact on the subjective well-being of youth. Specifically, 1,275 not in education, employment, or training (NEET) rural youths from Italy, Portugal, and Spain participated in the survey. Drawing upon Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, the current study sets up a model which includes different factors at the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-system levels. The results show that non-urban NEETs’ subjective well-being is associated positively with public employment services availability, while the relationship with public employment services interaction and public employment services support is non-significant. A positive and significant relationship emerged also with self-efficacy and social support. Some recommendations for policymakers are discussed.

In the last decades, young people not in education or employment have become the focus of policy-makers worldwide, and there are high political expectations for various intervention initiatives. Despite the global focus, there is currently a lack of systemic knowledge of the factors supporting policy-making. Therefore, using scoping review methodology, a systematic literature overview of research findings in 2013–2021 on young people not in education or employment will be provided. The research revealed five categories to consider from a policy-making perspective: “NEET” as a concept, the heterogeneity of the target group, the impact of policies for young people, possible interventions, and factors influencing young people's coping strategies. Based on analysis, the target group requires applying the holistic principle where the young person is a unique person whose involvement in service creation supports the service's compliance with the actual needs of young people. To support young people, it is important to consider differences within a single social group; the interaction between the different site-based policies; young people's sense of self-perception and autonomy in entering support services; possible coping strategies and the need to provide support in a time and place-based flexible and caring environment through multidisciplinary teams. The study's results support the importance of implementation and the identification of existing opportunities of the EU's reinforced Youth Guarantee guidelines and point to possible future research topics related to the target group.

Õpilaste parem toimetulek eri suhtlussituatsioonides on oluline tegur, mida õppeprotsessi kaudu koolis toetada, panustades seeläbi heaolu suurenemisse nii hetkeolukordades kui ka edaspidises elus. Süsteemsele arendustegevusele aitab kaasa parem arusaam nendest aspektidest, mis vajaksid konkreetses klassis tuge. Selleks on õpetajatele ning tugipersonalile kasutamiseks loodud eksamite infosüsteemis paiknevad arvutitestid. Suhtlus- ja enesemääratluspädevuse testi kasutusvõimaluste paremaks kirjeldamiseks on oluline uurida, kuidas on testi tulemused seotud teiste õpilaste toimetulekut kirjeldavate näitajatega. Siinse artikli eesmärk on kirjeldada 2. klassi valimil (n = 250), kuidas on omavahel seotud õpilaste suhtlus- ja enesemääratluspädevuse testi tulemused ning õpetajate (n = 16) ja lastevanemate (n = 109) hinnatud tugevused (prosotsiaalsus) ning raskused (internaliseeritud ja eksternaliseeritud probleemid), mis on kaardistatud tugevuste ja raskuste küsimustiku (SDQ) kaudu. Tulemustest selgus, et arvutitestis paremaid tulemusi saanud õpilased said õpetajatelt kõrgemad prosotsiaalsuse hinnangud ning madalamaid internaliseeritud ja eksternaliseeritud probleemide hinnangud; lastevanemate hinnangud ei olnud testitulemustega oluliselt seotud. Summary

This paper presents an exploratory typological analysis of young people (aged 15–30) as political and civic actors in Estonia and the Czech Republic. We compare youth civic engagement patterns in these two East European countries, sharing similar socio-historical contexts, and analyse the sociodemographic and attitudinal profiles of the resulting participation types. The study draws on Estonian and Czech data sets collected from November to December 2016 within the Horizon 2020 project ‘CATCH-EyoU – Constructing AcTive CitizensHip with European Youth: Policies, Practices, Challenges and Solutions’. Two independent methods (latent class analysis and cluster analysis) demonstrated shared patterns in the political and civic activities employed by the Estonian and Czech participants, suggesting the existence of four clearly distinguishable types of young citizens. A more detailed analysis revealed that the socio-demographic and attitudinal profiles of active young people, and therefore, the factors of political socialization, differed quite substantially in the two countries.

The purpose of the current paper is to test whether value similarity may foster social trust in society and whether people have higher levels of social trust when they emphasise the same values that prevail in their country. The relationship between social trust and human values was examined in a sample of 51,308 people across 29 European countries using data from the European Social Survey round 6. Results suggest that value similarity is more important in generating individual level social trust in countries where the overall levels of social trust are higher. There is a stronger positive relationship between value similarity and social trust in Scandinavian countries, which have high social trust levels, while in countries with a low level of social trust, congruity of the personal value structure with the country level value structure tends to decrease the individuals trustfulness