We all remember “Yuppies” and maybe some of us are “Dinkys“, but now there’s a new social grouping on the block, “Neets”
“NEET”, is an official shorthand for ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’. At the moment, some young people who are volunteering are classified in this group and in a move that could benefit young volunteers and organisations who offer volunteering opportunities for young people, the national volunteering body, Volunteering England, has come out against the government’s definition.
Volunteering England claims that this devalues volunteering and completely fails to recognise the contribution that volunteering makes to employability. Volunteering England are asking the government to revise the definition of “Neet”.
This would make it possible for volunteering groups to access funding aimed at getting people out of the neet group. Changing the definition might also encourage local councils to fund volunteering if it is seen a s contributing to local targets to reduce unemployment.
However, the government is standing firm at the moment and insists that Education, Employment or Training must be in place alongside volunteering for someone not to be classified as a “Neet”
Very interesting, we are a Leics based social enterprise working in the NEET field, we at LCMP (especially the volunteers!) would appreciate updates regarding this ‘volunteer status debate’ Thanks