According to data from the Labor and Social Security Barometer published by the Center for Research and Business at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile, the percentage of young people aged 25 to 34 who are neither studying nor working rose to 21.6 percent, a level not seen since 2023. This coincides with high unemployment rates that are nearing 10 percent nationwide.
The report states that 41% of this group—those aged 25 to 34—are unemployed but actively seeking work, which means their NEET status is likely involuntary.
This same age group saw a loss of 112,000 jobs. This translates to an employment rate of 72.6%, down from 74.4% in 2025—a decrease of nearly 2 percentage points.
The barometer shows that employment among those aged 18 to 34 fell by 4.7% over twelve months, of which 85,600 were formal jobs, accounting for 63% of the total sample.
The National Institute of Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate reached 9.5% in the May–July 2026 quarter, an increase of 0.8 percentage points over the past year.
The government has announced an Emergency Labor Plan that would include subsidies and coordination among the ministries of Labor, Public Works, Finance, and Housing, as well as the Undersecretariat of Regional Development.
