Nº 357 (October, 2025). Pablo Gluzmann, Leopoldo Tornarolli & Cecilia Velázquez

One in five young people in Latin America is Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET), with the rate for women almost double that of men. Similarly, one in four young people classified as NEET is part of the economically active population because he or she is looking for a job. This article aims to analyze the role of the business cycle in the proportion of NEET youth in the region by estimating fixed-effects econometric models using harmonized survey data from 14 countries for the period 2005-2024.
The results suggest that the share of NEET youth follows a countercyclical pattern: a 10% increase in the cyclical component of the product is associated with a decrease in the share of NEET youth of about three percentage points. In addition, there is evidence of a “hard core” of NEET youth who face significant barriers to entering or remaining in education or the labour market, even during economic expansions.

JEL codes: E32, I20, J13, J21, N36

Suggested citation: Gluzmann, P., L. Tornarolli & C. Velázquez (2025). El Ciclo Económico: Una Pieza en el Rompecabezas de los Jóvenes que Ni Estudian Ni Trabajan en América Latina. CEDLAS Working Papers Nº 357, October, 2025, CEDLAS-FCE-Universidad Nacional de La Plata.