Youth have always had higher unemployment rates – about twice or more than the average – as they are usually the last to be hired in an expansion and the first to be let go in a recession. In addition, young people engage in extensive job searching in their early years, and this can imply considerable job churning as both youth and employers look for a good match. This highlights the importance of facilitating the school-to-work transition and having early interventions to assist such youth before negative conditions set in. It also highlights the potential importance of determining those young people most “at risk” of long-term unemployment, and of targeting or streaming them into programmes that will yield the largest incremental net benefits given their characteristics. Unemployed youth without previous work experience often are not eligible for unemployment insurance benefits when they first enter the labour market. When they do receive job search assistance, they often face a bewildering array of programmes that are available to assist them, often with little guidance to help them select the programs that best meet their needs. Consequently, ensuring that today’s youth do not become a “lost generation” is an urgent matter. George Bernard Shaw once said that it is too bad that “youth is wasted on the young”, implying that youth do not realize the opportunities they have as youth and only see them as they get older. There is a danger, however, that many of today’s youth may be never have those opportunities and hence not even see them with hindsight. This book and others in the ADAPT Labour Studies Book-Series are intended to deal with these challenges, to make sure that youth is not wasted on the young.

Comprises ten papers grouped under two themes: European strategies to fight youth unemployment: a comparative analysis and critical assessment; and National Action Plans: trends and challenges.

This report comments positively on some aspects of the design of the Youth Contract. It builds on the types of interventions which have been shown to have a positive impact: increased Jobcentre Plus (JCP) adviser support; work experience placements; and apprenticeships. It also welcomes the inclusion of a new scheme for 16-17 year-olds, the large majority of whom do not receive support from JCP as they are ineligible for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). The Committee acknowledges that the Government has sensibly focused wage incentives - the key new element of the Youth Contract - on longer term young unemployed claimants and there is an attempt to achieve sustainable job outcomes by linking wage incentives to the Work Programme payment structure, in which providers are financially incentivised to keep participants in work and off benefits in the longer term. However the Youth Contract on its own it will not be enough to address the current unacceptably high level of youth unemployment. A significant impact can only be made if all the targets are met. In particular, past experience shows that 160,000 wage incentives is a very ambitious target in the current economic climate. And 250,000 additional work experience placements for young people may also be unrealistic

This report evaluates the comprehensive labour market reforms undertaken in Portugal in 2011-15. It reviews reforms in employment protection legislation, unemployment benefits, activation, collective bargaining, minimum wages and working time, and assesses the available evidence on their impact.

Among member states, many structural weaknesses were exposed when economic performance declined significantly and financial markets became more discerning. This book focuses on the analytical underpinnings of real-time policy advice given to euro area policymakers during four cycles of the IMF’s annual Article IV consultations (2012–15) with euro area authorities.

The book examines the socio-economic dynamics of the current economic crisis that have affected Southern European countries in general, particularly Greece and Spain. These dynamics have caused considerable effects in social, political and cultural level and have influenced the marginalised populations of both countries. This review tries to examine the social impact of the crisis on youth unemployment in Greece and Spain with particular focus on graduates of tertiary education and the constraints of labour market occurred due to the economic and political upheavals followed by the crisis. The increasing levels of unemployment, together with accumulative poverty phenomena and future uncertainty has direct implications on psychological well-being and triggers the danger of social and economic exclusion as has been investigated in the study. A further examination includes the political governance in national and European level during the crisis which have shaped the views of youth unemployed populations in both countries and occurred a shift from traditional politics.

V.2. Youth work histories of Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Wales and Hungary.

OECD's annual report on employment markets and prospects. This 2009 edition includes chapters on how the crisis has effected employment, job and worker flows, poverty, and pathways onto and off of disability benefits.

Papers presented at the annual conference of the International Club Meeting of Labour Law Periodicals, held at the University of Modena, April 28-29, 2000.