A comparative analysis in the European Union context
Consilium Policy Advisors Group · office@cpag.ro · www.cpag.ro
Key findings on Romanian youth transition to work
This analysis examines how young people in Romania, mainly aged 15 to 34, navigate between the educational system and the labour market, placing this reality in the broader context of the European Union. The data come from the Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) conducted by Eurostat (Update December 2025).
The main findings are alarming for Romania. With a rate of only 1.2% of students participating simultaneously in formal education and the labour market, our country ranks last in the European Union. This indicator, called SELRATIO (Students in Education and Labour market), contrasts sharply with the EU average of 11.6% and with the performance of Nordic countries such as the Netherlands (36.4%), Denmark (28.1%) or Finland (25.4%).
Moreover, Romania also has the highest NEET rate (young people who are neither in education, nor in employment, nor in training) in the EU, at 19.4%, almost double the European average of 11%.
The analysis reveals a rigid separation in Romania between the educational cycle and labour market experience: 97% of young people in formal education have no participation in the labour market, compared to the EU average of 71.4%. This segmentation has profound consequences for the transition to employment and for the accumulation of human capital, practical skills and professional experience before completing studies.
588,000 young people are neither studying, working, nor training
EU-LFS microdata — Eurostat, December 2025
The analysis is based on microdata from the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), extracted by Eurostat in December 2025. The dataset covers all 27 EU member states, the euro area (20 countries), as well as candidate and associated countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Calculations are based on the following variables from the LFS microdata: GEO (reporting geopolitical entity), COEFFQ (quarterly weighting coefficients), SEX (sex), AGE (age), EDUCFED4 (participation in formal education) and ILOSTAT (labour market status according to ILO definition). The combination of these variables allows the construction of a matrix of young people's participation in both the educational system and the labour market.
Two synthetic indicators are central to this analysis. SELRATIO (Students in Education and Labour market Ratio) represents the proportion of young people who simultaneously participate in formal education and the labour market out of the total population of young people in formal education. UNEMPRATIO (Unemployment Ratio) measures the unemployment rate among young people.
The proportion of young people who simultaneously participate in formal education and the labour market, out of the total population of young people in formal education. A higher SELRATIO indicates better integration between education and work experience.
Measures the unemployment rate among young people according to the ILO definition: without work, available to start within two weeks, and actively seeking employment during the reference period.
15–29 year-olds not in employment, education or training
19.4% NEET rate — highest in the EU. Nearly double the EU average of 11%. Romania stands alone at the bottom of the European distribution.
In Romania, most young NEETs are not unemployed in active search of a job, but economically inactive — meaning they are not looking for a job at all. Of the total of 19.4% NEET, approximately 14% are inactive and only 5.4% are unemployed in the technical sense — that is, without work, available to start within two weeks, and actively seeking employment, as defined by the ILO.
INSCOP Survey 2025 — nationally representative
A 2025 survey data realized by INSCOP reveals a labour market in which the primary obstacle to employment is not scarcity of jobs but the perceived inadequacy of compensation. Among young Romanians aged 18–35, 43.2% are not currently employed — a rate that disproportionately concentrates among those under 25, women, rural residents, and individuals with low educational attainment.
Of those actively encountering barriers, 43.6% cite low salaries as the principal obstacle, dwarfing all other responses: lack of experience (25.6%), geographic availability (8.7%), and sectoral mismatch (8.0%).
Only 27.5% of those currently employed consider their remuneration adequate relative to the cost of living, while a near-identical share — 28.3% — explicitly considers it insufficient.
Over a quarter of respondents (27.5%) believe to a very large extent that working abroad improves living standards, and a further 38.7% share this view to a fairly large extent — a combined 66.2% who are oriented, at least attitudinally, toward emigration as an economic strategy. 27.6% say they intend to leave Romania for a longer period within the following 12 months for work or study, with 64.7% of prospective emigrants citing the pursuit of better pay as their primary motivation.
66.2% of young Romanians view working abroad as improving living standards. 27.6% plan to leave within 12 months, with 64.7% of prospective emigrants citing the pursuit of better pay as their primary motivation.
Only 1.2% of Romanian students participate simultaneously in education and the labour market
A singular position
Romania presents the lowest level of simultaneous youth participation in education and the labour market in the entire European Union (for the age interval 15-34 years). With a SELRATIO of only 1.2%, Romania is significantly below the EU average of 11.6% and dramatically below the performance of Western and Northern European countries.
Share of students simultaneously participating in the labour market (15–34 years)
| Country | SELRATIO (%) | Group |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 36.4 | 2 |
| Iceland | 29.9 | 2 |
| Denmark | 28.1 | 4 |
| Finland | 25.4 | 4 |
| EU-27 Average | 11.6 | — |
| Italy | 3.6 | 5 |
| Greece | 3.4 | 3 |
| Romania | 1.2 | 5 |
15–29 years, 2024
| Country | Employed (%) | Unemployed (%) | Outside Labour Force (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 74.3 | 7.0 | 18.7 |
| Denmark | 56.4 | 9.6 | 34.1 |
| Germany | 45.8 | 2.2 | 52.0 |
| EU-27 Average | 25.4 | 3.2 | 71.4 |
| Italy | 6.7 | 1.0 | 92.3 |
| Romania | 2.4 | 0.6 | 97.0 |
The gap between Romania and the Netherlands is striking — approximately 30 times fewer Romanian students are active in the labour market. While 74.3% of Dutch students work alongside their studies, only 2.4% of Romanian students do so.
Based on SELRATIO and UNEMPRATIO
The analysis of SELRATIO and UNEMPRATIO across all EU and associated countries reveals five distinct models of youth transition from education to the labour market. Each model reflects different institutional arrangements, cultural norms, and policy environments.
Romania's 1% quarterly transition from inactivity means a young Romanian who has withdrawn from job search faces an expected duration measured in years before re-employment, making early discouragement effectively self-fulfilling.
Romania's highest NEET rate in the EU
Beyond student participation in the labour market, Romania faces an even more serious problem: the highest NEET rate in the European Union. In 2024, 19.4% of young Romanians aged 15 to 29 were neither in education, nor in employment, nor in vocational training. This figure is almost double the EU average of 11% and contrasts dramatically with the performance of top countries such as the Netherlands (4.9%), Iceland (5.0%) or Sweden (6.3%).
Between 2016 and 2024, the total rate fell by 4.9 percentage points, from 24.3% to 19.4%. However, this aggregate improvement conceals a pronounced gender asymmetry: the male NEET rate contracted by 5.9 percentage points (from 19.9% to 14.0%), while the female rate declined by only 3.9 percentage points (from 29.1% to 25.2%). In 2024, young women represent 63% of all NEET individuals in Romania (371,000 out of 588,000). The gender gap has not converged: it stood at 9.2 percentage points in 2016 and widened to 11.2 percentage points by 2024.
EU-27 and Romania, percentage points
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU Males | 13.1 | 12.2 | 11.5 | 11.1 | 12.6 | 11.8 | 10.5 | 10.1 | 10.0 |
| EU Females | 16.5 | 15.8 | 15.1 | 14.5 | 15.4 | 14.4 | 13.0 | 12.5 | 12.1 |
| EU Gap | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
| RO Males | 19.9 | 17.9 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 15.7 | 14.6 | 14.5 | 14.1 | 14.0 |
| RO Females | 29.1 | 26.5 | 26.3 | 25.8 | 25.9 | 26.3 | 25.4 | 24.8 | 25.2 |
| RO Gap | 9.2 | 8.6 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 10.2 | 11.7 | 10.9 | 10.7 | 11.2 |
In large cities, Romania's NEET rate — particularly for men (4.5% in 2024) — is below the EU urban average. Urban women's rate (10.4%) also approximates the EU benchmark (10.6%). Beyond city boundaries, however, the picture reverses sharply: in towns and suburbs, the female NEET rate (28.5%) exceeds the EU average (12.8%) by a factor of more than two, and in rural areas the female rate (34.8%) is 2.5 times higher than its EU counterpart (14.2%).
Interactive map of NEET rates across Romania's NUTS 2 regions
The regional breakdown reveals stark disparities across Romania's eight development regions. While Bucharest-Ilfov approaches EU urban benchmarks, the southern and eastern regions exhibit rates that are among the worst in Europe.
Ages 15–29, by gender, with population difference indicator
| Region | Male (%) | Female (%) | Gap (pp) | Pop. Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romania (national) | 14.0 | 25.2 | 11.2 | -6% |
| Bucharest-Ilfov | 6.4 | 12.4 | 6.0 | -2% |
| West | 9.5 | 18.1 | 8.6 | -7% |
| North-West | 11.4 | 21.0 | 9.6 | -3% |
| North-East | 12.5 | 20.8 | 8.3 | -11% |
| South-Muntenia | 12.5 | 28.7 | 16.2 | -3% |
| Centre | 17.2 | 32.7 | 15.5 | -5% |
| South-West Oltenia | 19.7 | 30.6 | 10.9 | -6% |
| South-East | 22.6 | 37.7 | 15.1 | -8% |
North-East presents an apparent paradox: despite being one of Romania's most structurally disadvantaged regions, it records NEET rates that are only moderate relative to the southern and central regions. The largest resident-domiciled population gap nationally (-11% male, -12% female) suggests that youth are migrating out rather than finding genuine labour market improvement.
Rural women record a NEET rate of 34.8% — 2.5 times the EU rural female average
Why Romania's transition gap is structural
The data patterns documented in this report are not the result of any single cause. They emerge from the interaction of multiple structural factors that reinforce one another, creating a system that is resistant to incremental reform.
The 2025 OECD report identifies early school leaving as one of the main factors behind the high NEET rate in Romania. The proportion of young adults (25–34 years) without upper secondary education decreased from 26% to 24% between 2019 and 2024 but remains significantly above the OECD average of 13%. More alarmingly, the tertiary education completion rate among the same age group decreased from 26% to 23% in the same period, placing Romania among the few OECD countries where the educational level of young adults has regressed.
The Romanian educational system remains predominantly rigid and oriented towards full-time programs. Unlike countries in Groups 2 and 4, where part-time study programs and dual education systems are normalized, in Romania combining studies with work remains a marginal option. Structural barriers include limited curricular flexibility, fixed course schedules, and the absence of support infrastructure for working students. Moreover, alternative formats such as part-time study (frecvență redusă) and distance learning exist but enroll only a small minority of students.
The Romanian labour market has particularities that complicate the transition of young people. The high rate of informal work (significantly above the OECD average) indicates segments of the economy operating outside the formal employment framework. The employment rate of the working-age population (63% in 2023) remains 7.4 percentage points below the EU-27 average. For young people aged 15–24, the employment rate of 18.7% is dramatically below the European average, indicating significant barriers to labour market entry and a limited availability of structured entry-level opportunities.
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are beginning to reshape the structure of entry-level employment. Many tasks traditionally performed by junior workers — particularly routine analytical, administrative or document-based work — are increasingly automated or assisted by AI tools. In the United States, entry-level job postings have declined by an estimated 35% over eighteen months, driven in significant part by the automation of tasks traditionally assigned to junior workers (Revelio Labs Research, cited in World Economic Forum, 2026). This trend may reduce the number of traditional “training” positions that historically allowed young people to gain initial professional experience.
The regulatory and fiscal environment further narrows formal “bridge” options into the labour market. Since 2022, social contribution obligations have been calculated on the minimum wage base even for reduced-hours contracts, raising the effective cost of short-term, low-intensity positions that students typically fill. Although exemptions exist for certain categories (including students under 26, apprentices), the overall incentive for employers to offer such roles has weakened. Student part-time employment is further constrained by a broader full-time bias: employers often prefer full-time contracts, and the internship framework is widely perceived as overly bureaucratic and rigid.
Romania faces a rapid contraction of the working-age population, driven by low fertility rates, aging and significant emigration. Between 2024 and 2040, the number of people aged 15–64 is projected to decline by 15% in Romania, while at OECD level this number will remain relatively stable. This demographic dynamic makes it even more urgent to exploit the employment potential of the existing population. When labour-market entry is delayed or structurally impeded, the consequences extend well beyond the transition period: shortened early careers compress lifetime earnings trajectories, reduce pension contribution records, and increase long-term social protection dependence.
⚠ Implications for human capital and competitiveness: Students who have no professional experience before graduation face greater difficulties in transitioning to their first job, risk accepting positions below their education level and may experience prolonged periods of unemployment or underemployment. In a context where technological change is also reshaping entry-level job structures, the lack of early professional exposure may further amplify the risk of skill mismatches and delayed labour market integration.
💡 Systemic Approach Required: These challenges reflect a systemic transition gap and require a systemic approach: coherent objectives, aligned instruments across education and labour-market policy, and coordinated implementation. Rather than isolated measures, policies should aim to build a coherent Learn–Work ecosystem that enables young people to combine education and employment in a structured and predictable way. Effective delivery depends on the involvement of multiple actors — including schools, students and parents, employers, public employment services, and relevant public authorities.
Strategic directions for structural reform
The rigid separation between education and the labour market has long-term consequences for human capital accumulation. Students who have no professional experience before graduation face greater difficulties in transitioning to their first job, risk accepting positions below their education level and may experience prolonged periods of unemployment or underemployment. This situation reduces the return on investment in education, both for individuals and for society as a whole.
German–Austrian dual model as reference
This should be anchored in a broader Learn–Work framework, with coordinated reforms across education policy, labour regulation and fiscal incentives, so that learning and work reinforce each other through predictable institutional arrangements.
Employers as active partners
Targeted incentives could support employers to expand dual education formats, develop structured internship programs, and create junior positions accessible to students and recent graduates.
Simple, predictable and compliant entry-level options
Through simple, predictable and compliant entry-level contract options aligned to academic calendars. A clearer alignment between study format and work intensity could also be considered.
Not all NEETs are the same — differentiated approaches
NEET youth represent a heterogeneous group and require more differentiated and proactive policy approaches. A significant proportion are not registered with public employment services and remain outside institutional support systems. Policies should distinguish between those close to employment and those facing multiple barriers.
Not pre-defined occupations — aptitudes, transferable skills and long-term adaptability
In the context of AI-driven technological change, the objective should not be to channel students into pre-defined occupations, but to identify aptitudes and core competencies early, and translate them into flexible learning and career pathways that build transferable skills and long-term adaptability — so young people can transition across roles and sectors as the labour market evolves.
Next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034
In the negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework, Romania should seek dedicated allocations for measures addressing the structural drivers of NEET vulnerability, prioritising those intervention areas for which the European Commission's 2028–2034 proposal already signals a clear potential financing channel.
💡 Note: The financing channels identified below are drawn from Commission proposals published between July and September 2025. They are currently under negotiation between the Council and the European Parliament and may be subject to change before final adoption, expected by end 2027.
Mapping structural problems to available EU funding instruments (2028–2034)
| Structural Problem | Opportunity for Romania | EU Financing Channel (2028–2034) | Main Romanian Institutions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low employability of NEET youth and weak transition into work | Request dedicated allocations for reskilling, upskilling, short-cycle training and vocational pathways targeted at disengaged youth | European Social Fund delivered through the future National and Regional Partnership Plans | Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity, ANOFM, MIPE |
| Weak re-entry pathways into education or training for NEET youth, with particular concentration among young women with at most lower secondary education | Negotiate funding for second-chance, re-entry and flexible education and training pathways for young people who have disconnected from both school and work | European Social Fund delivered through the future National and Regional Partnership Plans | Ministry of Education and Research, MIPE, ANOFM |
| NEET youth facing multiple barriers beyond employment alone | Seek earmarked social-inclusion allocations for integrated packages combining activation, counselling, education/training access and broader support services | European Social Fund delivered through the future National and Regional Partnership Plans | Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity, ANOFM, MIPE, Local Authorities |
| Geographic access barrier preventing youth in rural and peri-urban areas from reaching labour markets and training facilities | Negotiate allocations for rural and peri-urban transport connectivity infrastructure enabling youth access to employment and training centres | European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund delivered through future National and Regional Partnership Plans | Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, MIPE, Local Authorities |
| Severe vulnerability among some NEET groups linked to unstable living conditions | Request support for social infrastructure connected to inclusion pathways, especially where housing barriers undermine youth activation | EU Facility (approx. €63 billion) covering Union-led social infrastructure initiatives and crisis response; dedicated housing investment through NRPP and ESF | Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, Ministry of Labour, Local Authorities, MIPE |
| Weak youth engagement, motivation and connection to institutional support | Seek allocations for youth initiatives, personal development and community engagement projects that can reconnect vulnerable young people with learning and participation pathways | Reinforced Erasmus+ (proposed at approx. €40.8 billion, a roughly 50% increase on the 2021–2027 allocation) | Ministry of Education and Research, National Agency for Community Programmes, schools, youth organisations |
| Weak alignment between skills support and labour-market demand in strategic sectors | Request funding for training projects and apprenticeships linked to quality jobs in sectors with medium- and long-term labour demand | European Competitiveness Fund (€409 billion proposed), explicitly targeting quality jobs in strategic sectors including training, apprenticeships, clean energy, digitalisation and defence | Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Labour, employers, sector bodies |
| Need for larger-scale financing capacity for youth inclusion and skills measures | Explore policy-loan financing to complement grant-based allocations for broader social inclusion and skills-development efforts | Catalyst Europe policy loans (up to €150 billion in EU-backed loans under the NRPPs, explicitly including social inclusion and skills as eligible areas) | Ministry of Finance, MIPE, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education and Research |
Every cohort that transitions poorly represents a permanent reduction in lifetime earnings and productive capacity
Key findings and the path forward
The analysis of Eurostat data on the participation of young people in Romania in education and the labour market reveals a worrying situation. With the lowest rate of simultaneous student participation in education and the labour market in the EU (1.2%) and the highest NEET rate (19.4%), Romania faces a structural crisis of the transition of young people from education to work.
This situation is not inevitable. The experiences of countries in Groups 2 and 4 demonstrate that high rates of student participation in the labour market are compatible with quality educational systems and acceptable unemployment rates among young people. The key to success lies in flexibilising the educational system, developing dual education and apprenticeship programs, and creating a framework that normalizes and facilitates combining studies with professional experience. In this context, building a coherent Learn–Work ecosystem — linking education policy, labour-market regulation and employer incentives — becomes essential for enabling a gradual transition from education to employment.
For Romania, reforms in this area are not optional, but necessary. Rapid demographic contraction, emigration of the skilled workforce and persistence of high NEET rates create an urgent imperative for action. At the same time, technological change and evolving labour-market structures further increase the importance of early professional exposure and flexible learning pathways. Without large-scale structural interventions, the gap with the rest of Europe risks deepening, with negative long-term consequences for the country's economic competitiveness and social cohesion.
⚠ The cost of inaction is not abstract: every cohort that transitions poorly into the labour market represents a permanent reduction in lifetime earnings, pension contributions and productive capacity that Romania's demographic trajectory can no longer afford.
1. Romania records the lowest rate of simultaneous student participation in education and the labour market in the EU (1.2%), against an EU average of 11.6% and rates exceeding 30% in the Netherlands and Iceland — placing it in a structurally distinct category from all other member states.
2. 97% of young Romanians in formal education are economically inactive, compared to the EU average of 71.4% — reflecting deep institutional and regulatory barriers that prevent students from combining studies with work.
3. Romania has the highest NEET rate in the EU at 19.4%, affecting approximately 588,000 young people aged 15–29 and nearly double the EU average of 11%.
4. Young women are disproportionately affected, representing 63% of all NEETs. The gender gap of 11.2 percentage points is more than five times the EU average and has widened since 2016, driven largely by care responsibilities and structural disadvantages in rural areas.
5. The dominant form of NEET status in Romania is economic inactivity, not active unemployment: approximately 14 percentage points are inactive, with only 5.4 points actively seeking work — pointing to deep discouragement rather than a simple lack of available jobs.
6. Re-entry into the labour market is structurally impeded: only 1% of inactive young people and 8% of unemployed young people transition to employment each quarter — the lowest rates in the EU and sufficient to make early exit from the labour market effectively self-perpetuating.
7. Early school leaving is the primary upstream driver of NEET risk: 24% of young adults lack upper secondary qualifications, nearly twice the OECD average, and the tertiary completion rate declined between 2019 and 2024. Among young women with at most lower secondary education, the NEET rate rose from 28.8% in 2016 to 44.1% in 2024, running counter to the EU trend where the equivalent rate fell from 18.1% to 13.9%.
8. Wage dissatisfaction is the leading self-reported barrier to employment: 44% of young people cite low pay as the main obstacle, and only 27.5% of employed youth consider their remuneration adequate relative to the cost of living.
9. Emigration compounds the NEET problem in a self-reinforcing cycle: 66.2% of young people express emigration-oriented attitudes, 27.6% intend to leave within 12 months, and those most likely to leave are the same groups already most vulnerable — youth under 25, rural residents and those with low educational attainment.
10. NEET risk is sharply differentiated by geography: Romania converges with EU averages only in large cities, where the male rate (4.5%) is actually below the EU urban average. In towns, suburbs and rural areas the gap widens substantially — rural women record a NEET rate of 34.8%, 2.5 times the EU rural female average of 14.2%, with a gender gap that has remained near 15 percentage points since 2016.
11. Regional disparities compound the national picture: Bucharest-Ilfov records the lowest rates (male 6.4%, female 12.4% in 2024), confirming urban convergence, while South-East and Center record female NEET rates of 37.7% and 32.7% respectively — among the highest in the country and still rising. North-East's apparently lower rates, corroborated by the largest resident-domiciled population gap nationally, suggest that youth are migrating out rather than finding genuine labour market improvement.
For Romania, reforms in this area are not optional, but necessary. Rapid demographic contraction, emigration of the skilled workforce and persistence of high NEET rates create an urgent imperative for action. Without large-scale structural interventions, the gap with the rest of Europe risks deepening, with negative long-term consequences for the country's economic competitiveness and social cohesion. The cost of inaction is not abstract: every cohort that transitions poorly into the labour market represents a permanent reduction in lifetime earnings, pension contributions and productive capacity that Romania's demographic trajectory can no longer afford.
• Eurostat (2025). Participation of young people in education and the labour market — Statistics Explained. Extraction from EU Labour Force Survey, December 2025.
• OECD (2025). OECD Reviews of Labour Market and Social Policies: Romania 2025. OECD Publishing, Paris.
• OECD (2025). Education at a Glance 2025: OECD Indicators — Romania Country Note.
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Romania (2025). Youth unemployment in Romania is on the rise. Social Monitor.
• EURES — European Employment Services (2024). Labour Market Information: Romania.
• ETUC (2024). Youth Employment Trends & Policies After the COVID-19 Pandemic — Romania.
• INSCOP Survey – National Youth Barometer. Nationally representative survey for Romania's population aged 18–35.