In 2019, there were 20 700 people between 15 and 29 ‘not in employment, education or training’ (NEET) (9.8%) in Estonia. When looking at 15-24-year-olds specifically, 8 600 were categorised as NEET (i.e. 6.9%). In comparison, these numbers have changed over the following years, showing an overall increase in both age groups.

In particular, there were 24 300 (11.7%) youngsters aged 15-29 in NEET situation in 2020, whereas this number has decreased to 22 200 (11.2%) in 2021 – still showing an overall increase compared to 2019. The increase of the percentage and number of young NEETS is especially visible among the younger age group, as there were 12 200 (9.7%) 15-24-year-olds in 2020, which grew to 13 400 (10.9%) in 2021 – meaning a 3% increase compared to 2019. Like many other countries, the COVID-19 crisis has substantially affected these numbers.

2019 figures presented the lowest percentage of young NEETs since 2012, a number that has grown again since then. Statistics also show that it took Estonia 10 years to recover from the 2009 financial crisis. Unfortunately, having little to no work experience and/or an insufficient level of education lowers the competitiveness of young people on the labour market and increases their risk of unemployment. Young NEETs remain a target group for support with (re)entry into education or the job market, which is a cornerstone of a sustainable society.

The Youth Prop-Up Programme has four key innovative elements:

1) Connection and activation of a broad network of partners to reach out to young NEETs who are not aware of available support services or youth work available to them. The network helps beneficiaries to solve individual, day-to-day problems.

2) It is a low-threshold service without preconditions for participation, and NEET young people are offered support even if they choose not to disclose any personal information. This means that confidentiality of personal data and support is provided to any young people aged 15-26, also in the case if they do not wish to share their name, date of birth, etc.

3) Implementation of individualised mobile youth work throughout various regions, combining individual aid, street work, group and community work. The core of this concept is that instead of expecting potential beneficiaries to seek help at youth centres, qualified youth workers work where young NEETs are, such as gyms, parks, cultural centres, shopping centres, skateparks, bus stations or the beach in the summer, etc. Youth workers do street or outreach youth work, but they also work on the Internet, provide youth work services in other regions, as well as at youth hangouts. Mobile youth work provides young NEETs with support unique to their situation by equipping them with skills they could use to help themselves, and it can also serve as a pillar connecting NEET youth with relevant support services.

4) The aim is to establish a trust-based relationship with young NEETs and help them to identify their ambitions and future plans. An individual action plan is tailored to their needs, and they are supported by a youth worker to complete the plan. Providing individualised aid is a key aspect of Youth Prop-Up, as it empowers young people according to their specific motivation.

The Estonian OYC use the Youth Centre Logbook, an electronic monitoring instrument for youth centres to collect and share daily data. The Logbook enables youth workers to document their daily activities with participants.

A key programme output is the 2017 Report on the statistical data analysis of the youth centre logbook ‘Noorte Tugila/Youth Prop-Up’. The report analysed 2016 logbook data to give an overview of participating young NEETs’ profiles, and it has shown that the largest group of youth involved in the programme was younger men with acquired or discontinued basic education. This is not representative of all the non-working, non-studying youth in Estonia though, as it was also not the purpose of the Youth Prop-Up to gather representative data. At the time of the report, the programme had gone on for over a year. During this period, over 2 000 young people have joined the Youth Prop-Up and the firsts have successfully reached the end of the programme and no longer have the NEET-youth status. The findings of this report were used to evaluate the effectiveness of programme implementation and guide improvements. A number of further evaluations were also carried out and are available in Estonian.