Spain faces challenge of 'ninini' youth, report says

An annual global education report has noted the high number of young Spaniards that have dropped out of studying and work altogether, and that also have no plans to resume learning or to look for a job.

The latest report on education worldwide from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said one in ten young Spaniards now fall in to this new category.

A report in The Times newspaper highlighted the growing global trend toward youth unemployment. It noted that the situation has become so entrenched in Spain that natives long ago gave those not working or studying a nickname: "nini", short for Spanish phrase ni estudian, ni trabajan (neither study nor work).

But the OECD has now created a new sub-category for Spain: the triple ni, or "ninini", someone who neither studies or works, and also has no plans to. From a population of 47 million people, Spain has 278,379 nininis, which is a tenth of all those aged 18 to 24 in the populace, said the OECD. Spaniards from this age group in the original nini bracket are measured at 20 percent, it noted.

One solution to the problem the Spanish government is considering is to boost vocational training, according to El Espanol.

Spain is not the worst in Europe in the nini category, known in English as Neets (not in education, employment or training).

The OECD's report, titled Education at a Glance 2022, puts Spain in the fifth-worst position worldwide in terms of the number counted in the bracket of nini. The highest number of young people measured in this category in Europe is in Italy (27 percent), while Brazil counts the highest worldwide (36 percent). The top five nations for being neither in work nor studying, also includes Chile (26 percent) and Mexico (22 percent), the OECD found.

Across the OECD's 38 member countries the average is 15 percent, while across European Union countries it is 13 percent.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been partly blamed for the situation, which has drastically reduced many of the jobs that young people could take without training, reported The Times.

The paper cited experts as saying permanent work was harder to find in Spain for young people, meaning temporary contracts were often their only option available, and noted findings from the World Health Organization that suggest the situation is contributing to problems of depression and anxiety among this age group.