Increase in the number of “ninis” in the Balearics

“Nini” is the term used to describe someone who neither works nor studies, and it is typically applied to young people.
 A survey by the national ministry of education has revealed that in 2014 the percentage of “nini” 15 to 29 year olds in the Balearics rose by 1.2% from 21.2% in 2013 to 22.4% in 2014.
This compares with a national percentage of 20.7%, which represents the first fall in the number of “ninis” since 2008 when it was 15.3%. The Balearics is the only region of Spain where an increase occurred last year with the exception of Aragon, where the percentage was lower - 19.4%. Though there was this increase in the Balearics, the region is some way behind the Canary Islands and Andalusia. Here, the percentage of “ninis” is, respectively, 25.6% and 25.5%. The region with the lowest percentage was the Basque Country (14%).
The Balearics, and indeed Spain as a whole, has a problem with teenagers leaving education at an early age. On this, there was some encouragement last year in that this abandonment of education fell slightly to 21.9%. However, as the European Union average was 11.1%, the dropout rate is clearly very significant and also worrying.  The figures are, though, influenced by non-Spanish students, whose dropout percentage in 2014 was 41.6%, more than twice that of Spanish students - 19.1%. There will be reasons why this abandonment of education by foreign students is so high which aren’t related to a lack of ambition to stay in education, it is high nonetheless. So, though, is the rate for Spanish pupils.