According to an OECD report, Mexico is number 5 and Chile number 6 in the ranking of countries with youth aged 15 to 29 years old who do not work nor study.

The organization reported that, due to the economic crisis, the number of young people (15 to 29 years old) who neither study nor work – known as NEETs- has grown over the past few years in most of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

There are 40 million NEETs in OECD countries and two thirds of them are not actively looking for a job. Among people younger than 30 years old, almost 1 every 10 jobs were lost during the crisis.

Mexico is number five in the ranking: 22.1% of people from 15 to 29 years olds are NEETs. The average of NEETs for OECD countries is 14.6%.

In Mexico, 18.8% of NEETs are inactive (they are not looking for a job). Besides, there is a 12% youth poverty rate, which is rather low when compared to the poverty rate of adults over 65 years old (25.6%).

53.5% of NEETs in Mexico live with their parents; 6.6% of them are satisfied with their lives and the suicide rate is 5.2%.

Chile is number six in the ranking, right after Mexico, with 19% of NEETs. According to 2013 data, the country has 14% of inactive NEETs and the youth poverty rate is 15.3%, almost the same than among elder adults.

60% of NEETs in Chile live with their parents; 7.4% are quite happy with their lives and the suicide rate is 10.3%.

Turkey (29.8%), Italy (26.9%), Greece (24.7%), Spain (22.7%) and Mexico (22.1%) are the countries mostly affected by this problem.

The information was presented in the report “Society at a Glance 2016: OECD Social Indicators”,  published by the organization on October 5^th.

Estonia, Hungry, and Iceland have already recovered, or are recovering, their pre-crisis youth employment levels, assures the OECD.

“It is becoming harder and harder for young people with poor skills to find a job”, said Stefano Scarpetta, director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs of the OECD.

“Unless something is done to increase education and training opportunities for all, there is a huge risk of having a progressively more divided society”, he claimed.

Women have 1.4 more chances of becoming NEETs than men, as many of them take care of their children and the elevated costs of childcare services are a barrier to finding a job, says the report.

In the United States, Ireland, United Kingdom and New Zealand, the costs of childcare for a single parent can represent from a third to half of their net income.

In January 2016, the World Bank reported that there are 20 million NEETs in Latin America, and that most of them live in urban areas and come from poor or vulnerable homes. One out of five youngsters in the region are NEETs.

Most of them are from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, where the problem is even more serious due to the extended presence of the organized crime.