Saturday, March 14, 2009
[NEET]
NEET is an abbreviation for young people Not in Education, Employment or Training. NEET includes Hikikomori people.
The term is originated from the report Bridging the Gap by Social Exclusion Unit (UK). Reiko Kosugi, a Japanese educational sociologist, first uses the term in Japanese literature. In 2004 Yuji Genda, a Japanese labor economist, published a book NEET with Mie Maganuma, a free-lance reporter. Since then the term NEET has become known.
Most Japanese people know the term NEET and view it as a serious social problem. According to an estimate from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there are 620 thousands NEET people in 2007 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2008).
But Japanese people understand the NEET concept in different ways. Many of them understand NEET as young people who has no will to work. Some Japanese people understand NEET as Hikikomori. Others think NEET are discouraged by loose labor market from 1992 to 2005.
As I wrote earlier, MHLW estimates NEET population. It defines NEET as (i) aged 15-34 (ii) non-labor force (iii) not in education or housekeeping. But some criticize the definition. The definition includes sick people, people preparing for certification exams, women preparing for marriage, and so on.
MHLW carried out a research to grasp the actual conditions of NEET people. According to the research, about 40 percent NEET people experience school refusal. Many NEET people feel difficulty to communicate with people. About 50 percent NEET people experience being bullied, being Hikikomori, and receiving medical treatment at psychiatry or psychosomatic medicine (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2007).
[School Refusal]
There are many adolescents with school refusal in Japan. According to Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, over 50 thousands high school students (about 1.6 percent of all high school students) were absent from school for school refusal in 2007 school year.
It is said some children continue to be absent from school and then become Hikikomori. Akio Kiyota (M.D.) and others summarized earlier studies on Hikikomori and showed that about 40-60 percent of Hikikomori people become shut themselves in their houses or rooms triggered by school-related causes (Kiyota, Usami, & Okuma, 2008).
[References]
Kiyota, K., Usami, M., & Okuma, H. (2008). Chiiki renkei system niyoru hikikomori shien to ekigakuteki kentou. Shisyunki no hikikomori wo motarasu seishinka shikkan no jittai haaku to seishinnigakuteki chiryou enjo system no kouchiku nikansuru kenkyu, 95-101.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (2007). A research study on actual onditions and support measures of NEET people. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2007/06/h0628-1.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (Eds.). (2008). White Paper on the Labour Economy 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/wp/hakusyo/roudou/08/index.html
NEET is an abbreviation for young people Not in Education, Employment or Training. NEET includes Hikikomori people.
The term is originated from the report Bridging the Gap by Social Exclusion Unit (UK). Reiko Kosugi, a Japanese educational sociologist, first uses the term in Japanese literature. In 2004 Yuji Genda, a Japanese labor economist, published a book NEET with Mie Maganuma, a free-lance reporter. Since then the term NEET has become known.
Most Japanese people know the term NEET and view it as a serious social problem. According to an estimate from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there are 620 thousands NEET people in 2007 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2008).
But Japanese people understand the NEET concept in different ways. Many of them understand NEET as young people who has no will to work. Some Japanese people understand NEET as Hikikomori. Others think NEET are discouraged by loose labor market from 1992 to 2005.
As I wrote earlier, MHLW estimates NEET population. It defines NEET as (i) aged 15-34 (ii) non-labor force (iii) not in education or housekeeping. But some criticize the definition. The definition includes sick people, people preparing for certification exams, women preparing for marriage, and so on.
MHLW carried out a research to grasp the actual conditions of NEET people. According to the research, about 40 percent NEET people experience school refusal. Many NEET people feel difficulty to communicate with people. About 50 percent NEET people experience being bullied, being Hikikomori, and receiving medical treatment at psychiatry or psychosomatic medicine (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2007).
[School Refusal]
There are many adolescents with school refusal in Japan. According to Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, over 50 thousands high school students (about 1.6 percent of all high school students) were absent from school for school refusal in 2007 school year.
It is said some children continue to be absent from school and then become Hikikomori. Akio Kiyota (M.D.) and others summarized earlier studies on Hikikomori and showed that about 40-60 percent of Hikikomori people become shut themselves in their houses or rooms triggered by school-related causes (Kiyota, Usami, & Okuma, 2008).
[References]
Kiyota, K., Usami, M., & Okuma, H. (2008). Chiiki renkei system niyoru hikikomori shien to ekigakuteki kentou. Shisyunki no hikikomori wo motarasu seishinka shikkan no jittai haaku to seishinnigakuteki chiryou enjo system no kouchiku nikansuru kenkyu, 95-101.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (2007). A research study on actual onditions and support measures of NEET people. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2007/06/h0628-1.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (Eds.). (2008). White Paper on the Labour Economy 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/wp/hakusyo/roudou/08/index.html
