Time is not a waste: What do Mexican NEETS do with their time?

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about whether the number of Mexican young adults not in education, employment or training (NEETS) has increased (Székely, 2011). To understand the estimates of NEETS it is important to know what they do with their time. In this article, using the 2010 Mexican Census we measure the number of Mexican NEETS by sex and place of residence (rural or urban). In order to understand how they spend their time, we use the National Survey of Time Use (ENUT, 2009) to estimate the number of hours they spend doing housework, taking care of other people and in recreational activities. We pay special attention to gender and age differences in time use. We expect young females to spend more time than their male counterparts in domestic chores and caregiving. We compare the amount of time NEETS spend in these type of chores with the time other youngsters dedicate to the same chores. We expect NEETS to spend more time in housework and care activities. Our results have implications in two directions: First, they suggest that the definition of NEETS needs to be revised, as it includes many women who are dedicated to housework. Secondly, it shows that even when many young men are not working nor in education, current data sources do not serve to completely understand what they do with their time.