A study said Korea's "NEETs," young people who are not in education, employment, or training, are as high as 16 percent of those youths in their age between 15 and 29. This is the third highest figure among 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. According to OECD on August 4, the ratio of NEETs among young people was 15.6 percent as of 2013.
This is higher than the OECD average of 8.2 percent and only Turkey (24.9%) and Mexico (18.5%) are higher than Korea. Other countries such as Italy (14.4%), Hungary (11.3%), the United States (10.8%), and Israel (10.0%) followed thereafter. In most OECD member countries, the figure increased after the 2008 global financial crisis as economic growth was delayed.
The OECD report commented, "The ratio for temporary workers and NEETs is relatively higher for Korea than elsewhere. The fact that the youth unemployment rate is steadily on the rise since the end of 2012 even though the rate is relatively low is the biggest challenge that Korea's labor market is facing." According to the National Statistical Office, the ratio of youth unemployment reached 10.2 percent in June this year, up from 7.5 percent in 2012.
According to a study by Hyundai Economic Research Institute, as many as 42.9 percent of NEETs are long term in nature whose length of unemployment is longer than one year.
