Transition from Education to Labour Market in Turkey — Reasons of Youth NEET

Abstract

In this research, the transition process from education to the labour market in Turkey was investigated in terms of the youth population. In this context, the reasons why young people are neither in employment nor in education are examined through the quantitative data obtained from the official sources of Turkey. When education is considered a self-investment, the potential benefit obtained because of this investment is shown through data based on the departments preferred by the youth population during their undergraduate education. As a result of the analysis, it has been observed that students who choose fields related to natural sciences are able to find a job in a shorter period and experience fewer qualification mismatches than students who choose departments related to social sciences. Moreover, considering the expected financial return, since a large proportion of the working population in the country works with the minimum wage on a monthly basis, the stability of this wage against inflation and reserve currency is examined, and it is concluded that the purchasing power of the minimum wage is diminishing every year against the inflation. Therefore, if young people are employed with a minimum wage after four years of higher education, their education would not be a profitable investment. Apart from this, it has been observed that Turkey has the characteristics of a hierarchical market economy due to reasons such as low unionization rates, high inequality, school-industry mismatch, and low investment in education. In addition, examination of the education system has been examined by showing the low investment in education expenditures and the quality of education. The remarkable point of the analyses is that after compulsory high school education, which was introduced in Turkey in 2012, the statistics in education and youth employment were negatively affected due to supply-demand mismatch. Finally, a gender analysis of the data finds that women are absent from education and employment at a much higher rate than men, mostly due to family reasons, which highlights the traditional division of labour. In the conclusion part of the study, by evaluating the results obtained from the analysis of the findings, policy recommendations are made for improving the transition of young people from higher education to the labour market in Turkey.