Feet on the ground, future in the air: rural NEET youth in Portugal and the aspirational policies in the EU

Authors

  • Bernardo Fernandes Iscte — Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia (CIES-Iscte), Lisboa, Portugal
  • Renato Miguel do Carmo Iscte — Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia (CIES-Iscte), Lisboa, Portugal
  • Francisco Simões Iscte — Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Internacionais (CEI-Iscte), Lisboa, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7458/SPP202611040455

Keywords:

NEET youth, rural, European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), Youth Guarantee

Abstract

Recurring crises affect young people more intensely, particularly those who are outside education and training systems and the labour market (NEET). In this article, we analyse some of the risk factors that help explain the prevalence of NEET youth in rural territories, focusing on the Portuguese case. We compare these dimensions with the benchmark indicators of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and discuss the verticalisation of European Youth Guarantee programmes. The results show that Portugal does not perform poorly compared to other EU countries; nevertheless, territorial differentiation between rural and urban areas reveals clear inequalities.

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Published

2026-03-03

Issue

Articles in continuous publication

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Bernardo Fernandes, Renato Miguel do Carmo, Francisco Simões

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