Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Not So Neet: A Critical Policy Analysis Of Ontario's Youth Job Connection Program, Lindy Bancroft

Social Justice and Community Engagement

The Ontario government has identified youth unemployment as a central societal problem that it seeks to address through policy measures. It has recently switched its focus from assisting all youth towards assisting NEET youth (neither in employment, education or training), as is demonstrated in the current youth employment policy Youth Job Connection (YJC), which began in the fall of 2015. This MRP situates YJC as part of a broader trend away from designing youth policy as an explicit form of social control to a seemingly more positive approach of youth development. Using this example, it showcases the continuities between the …