A report reviewed evidence on the effectiveness of policies tackling youth unemployment for a selected number of European countries (including the United Kingdom). It sought to assess the extent to which the chosen measures had been successful, looking at their outputs, outcomes, and wider impact.
Source: Jo Hawley, Anne-Mari Hall-Nevala, and Tina Weber, Effectiveness of Policy Measures to Increase the Employment Participation of Young People, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Date: 2012-Dec
The European Commission proposed a package of measures designed to tackle youth unemployment, including a recommendation for European Union countries to implement a job and training guarantee programme for people aged under 25.
Source: Moving Youth into Employment, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2012-Dec
A report provided a European Union-wide overview of the market and regulation regarding types of alcoholic beverages with potentially particular appeal to minors. Over the period 1995–2007, drinking prevalence in young people had remained stable: but drinking patterns had become more risky. Alcohol-related advertising, in general, was targeted at minors, in particular via 'social media'.
Source: Peter Anderson, Marc Suhrcke, and Chris Brookes (eds), An Overview of the Market for Alcoholic Beverages of Potentially Particular Appeal to Minors, National Heart Forum
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
A report examined young people's exposure to alcohol marketing through television and online media in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Source: Eleanor Winpenny, Sunil Patil, Marc Elliott, Lidia Villalba van Dijk, Saba Hinrichs, Theresa Marteau, and Ellen Nolte, Assessment of Young People's Exposure to Alcohol Marketing in Audiovisual and Online Media, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
A study examined the labour market experiences of young people in Europe over the period 1998–2008. 20 per cent of those who had been unemployed or in low-paid work in 1998 were also found to be unemployed or in lower-paid jobs in 2008, often after periods of being in and out of work – compared with just 11.2 per cent of those who had had a job in 1998. The length of time a young person spent unemployed was also found to play a significant role in their future prospects: there was a strong link between the likelihood of being unemployed in 2008 and the number of weeks of unemployment 5 or 10 years previously.
Source: Ronald McQuaid et al., A Comparison of Effects on Capabilities in Transitions to the Labour Market, WorkAble Project (European Commission)
Links: Report | Edinburgh Napier University press release
Date: 2012-Nov
An article said that the negative effect of early school leaving on income was reduced by educational inclusiveness at the country level in Europe. This was because educational expansion decreased the influence of a disadvantaged family background, which accounted for the net interacting effect of educational inclusiveness itself.
Source: Stan van Alphen, 'The benefit of educational inclusiveness for early school leavers in the European labour market', European Journal of Education, Volume 47 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book examined youth participation in Europe. It looked at official and unofficial constructions of participation by young people in a range of socio-political domains; explored the motivations and rationales underlying official attempts to increase participation among young people; and offered a critique of their effectiveness.
Source: Patricia Loncle, Morena Cuconato, Virginie Muniglia, and Andreas Walther (eds), Youth Participation in Europe: Beyond discourses, practices and realities, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Oct
A report examined the labour market situation of young people in Europe, with a specific focus on the NEET group. It looked at the determinants of belonging to the NEET group, and measured the economic and social costs of NEETs. It also assessed how member states, through policies and interventions, had sought to support young people to gain a foothold in the labour market.
Source: Massimiliano Mascherini, Lidia Salvatore, Anja Meierkord, and Jean-Marie Jungblut, NEETs: Young People Not in Employment, Education or Training – Characteristics, Costs and Policy Responses in Europe, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Links: Report | Guardian report
Notes: NEET = Not in employment, education or training
Date: 2012-Oct
A report said that all young people in Europe had a right to good-quality, stable employment. It urged governments and social partners to commit to investing in young people by introducing youth guarantees. It considered the core principles behind a youth guarantee, and established what would work and what would not work for young people.
Source: James Higgins, A Youth Guarantee for Europe: Towards rights-based approach to youth employment policy, European Youth Forum
Links: Report | EYF press release
Date: 2012-Oct
The European Commission published a triennial progress report on the European Union youth strategy. It provided a comprehensive picture of the situation of young people in Europe based on the latest available data, statistics, and research. It called for youth employment, social inclusion, health, and the well-being of young people to be top priorities in Europe's youth policy.
Source: EU Youth Report: Status of the situation of young people in the European Union, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2012-Sep
A new book examined the origins and outcomes of the Youth Empowerment Partnership Programme – an ongoing programme focused on disadvantaged areas in eight European countries. The programme was designed to empower young people and the communities in which they lived by making them central to new decision-making processes involving partnerships between public, private, and independent sectors.
Source: Peter Evans and Angelika Kruger, Youth and Community Empowerment in Europe: International perspectives, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Sep
A new book examined the economic, social, and political changes affecting young people in Europe.
Source: Jeremy Leaman and Martha Worsching (eds), Youth in Contemporary Europe, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Sep
A report examined possible solutions to the problem of youth unemployment in Europe. The literature on labour market policy suggested there were no clear and universal solutions. Greater labour market flexibility would not be sufficient. But there might be scope for individual countries to learn from best practice in others.
Source: Hans Dietrich, Youth Unemployment in Europe: Theoretical considerations and empirical findings, Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Berlin)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jul
A new book examined the transition from juvenile to adult crime in Europe and the United States of America. It called for special legal provisions for offenders aged 18-24.
Source: Rolf Loeber and David Farrington (eds), From Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime: Criminal careers, justice policy and prevention, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jul
A briefing paper examined the reasons for variations in youth unemployment across Europe. It said that countries with strong 'transition systems' were associated with lower levels of youth unemployment and disengagement. Key features of these systems included a range of high-quality pathways into skilled jobs, such as apprenticeships, and early exposure to the workplace through high-quality and regular work placements.
Source: Tess Lanning and Katerina Rudiger, Youth Unemployment in Europe: Lessons for the UK, Institute for Public Policy Research/Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development/Trades Union Congress
Links: Paper | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined how the global recession, together with the general 'flexibilization' of labour markets, was affecting young people in Europe. At both European Union and national levels specific policy measures targeted young people in the labour market: but these were mostly supply-driven, and did not take into account the true problems that young people were facing – including problems finding first-time employment, and bad-quality jobs with little prospect of moving up the employment ladder. A new generation with higher exposure to systematic labour market risks than previous generations was being left to fend for itself with little appropriate state support.
Source: Heejung Chung, Sonja Bekker, and Hester Houwing, 'Young people and the post-recession labour market in the context of Europe 2020', Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, Volume 18 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined European young adults' perceptions of first job opportunities. Differences across countries could mainly be explained by the public's perceptions of levels of unemployment, and public spending on education. Young people in a precarious socio-economic situation had a rather pessimistic view of these opportunities. Women perceived the opportunities as less positive than men. Young people of foreign origin had – contrary to expectations – a more positive outlook on the chances for young people.
Source: Tim Reeskens and Wim van Oorschot, 'Those who are in the gutter look at the stars? Explaining perceptions of labour market opportunities among European young adults', Work, Employment and Society, Volume 26 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
An article said that the new generation of young people in the developed world were unlikely, for a range of economic and demographic reasons, to enjoy the same economic prosperity as the generations born following the second world war. It considered possible outcomes of this phenomenon, including intensified inter- and intra-generational conflict.
Source: Ken Roberts, 'The end of the long baby-boomer generation', Journal of Youth Studies, Volume 15 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A report said that widespread inequalities meant that many young people in Europe were not as healthy as they could be. Health depended on age, gender, geography, and family affluence. Health promotion programmes needed to be sensitive to socio-economic and other differences, and should aim to create a fair situation for all young people.
Source: Candace Currie, Cara Zanotti, Antony Morgan, Dorothy Currie, Margaretha de Looze, Chris Roberts, Oddrun Samdal, Otto Smith, and Vivian Barnekow (eds.), Social Determinants of Health and Well-Being Among Young People: Health behaviour in school-aged children (HBSC) study – International report from the 2009/2010 survey, World Health Organisation (Regional Office for Europe)
Links: Report | WHO press release
Date: 2012-May
A paper highlighted large differences in the pay of apprentices in Britain, Germany, and Switzerland. It associated apprentice pay with both institutional attributes and market forces: specifically, with trade union presence and goals, employer organization, the contractual status of apprentices, the supply of eligible and interested young people, and public subsidies. Apprentice pay appeared to have fallen in Britain and Germany as bargaining coverage had declined.
Source: Paul Ryan, Uschi Backes-Gellner, Silvia Teuber, and Karin Wagner, Apprentice Pay in Britain, Germany and Switzerland: Institutions, market forces, market power, Working Paper 75, Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Apr
An article examined the educational situation of young people in Europe with experience of being placed in foster or residential care. Barriers to continued education after compulsory school were found on both the individual and the family level as well as in relation to national policies and welfare regimes – pointing to low expectations from both professionals and carers. Young people from a public care background often lacked the chance to acquire sufficient cultural and social capital, and so chose other pathways.
Source: Helena Johansson and Ingrid Hojer, 'Education for disadvantaged groups – structural and individual challenges', Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 34 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
A report (drawing on a cluster of five research projects on the social inclusion of young people in Europe) formulated the policy challenges involved in producing greater social inclusion through more opportunities and better access to education and the labour market, within the framework of solidarity between young people and wider society.
Source: Dagmar Kutsar and Helena Helve, Social Inclusion of Youth on the Margins of Society: More opportunities, better access, and higher solidarity, European Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Apr
An article examined evidence from a European Union-funded project designed to find out how more care-leavers could be encouraged to stay in school longer and enabled to access further and higher education. If children and young people in care were to enjoy equal opportunities with their peers, a much stronger focus was needed in all countries on their formal and informal education throughout their time in care and beyond. With low level educational qualifications or none, they were severely disadvantaged in the labour market, especially at a time of high youth unemployment. In addition, their lack of family support and weak social networks put them at great risk of social exclusion in adulthood. Targeted measures to promote social mobility via participation in higher levels of education should be an explicit aim of welfare authorities.
Source: Sonia Jackson and Claire Cameron, 'Leaving care: looking ahead and aiming higher', Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 34 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
A report examined youth employment in Europe, and set out a range of policy measures aimed at boosting it.
Source: Youth Employment in Europe: A call for change, European Youth Forum
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper examined the effects of the global economic recession on young people s labour market experiences in the European Union. Labour market flexibility had contributed significantly to the negative consequences felt by young people.
Source: Niall O Higgins, This Time It s Different? Youth labour markets during 'The Great Recession , Discussion Paper 6434, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper examined the speed of transition of students to permanent employment in European countries, and sought to identify possible discriminatory effects. The gender discrimination that had affected most countries at the beginning of the 1990s had faded away by the end of the decade, replaced by a positive discrimination in favour of graduates from vocationally oriented programmes.
Source: Christelle Garrouste and Massimo Loi, School-to-Work Transitions in Europe: Paths towards a permanent contract, MPRA Paper 37167, Munich Personal RePEc Archive
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
A report summarized the findings by experts from a European network on the topic of policy interventions aimed at re-engaging young NEETs (aged 15-29).
Source: Jo Hawley, Anne-Mari Nevala, and Tina Weber, Recent Policy Developments Related to Those Not in Employment, Education and Training (NEETs), European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the relationship between a set of potentially protective ('health assets') factors and the well-being of young people aged 15 living in Spain and England. The young people's well-being was found to be similar and good. Three measures of social capital and two measures of social support were found to be important factors, namely: family autonomy and control; family and school sense of belonging; and social support at home and school. However, there were differences in how the sub-components of social capital manifested themselves in each country: feelings of autonomy and control were more important in England, and social support factors in Spain.
Source: Antony Morgan, Francisco Rivera, Carmen Moreno, and Bo Haglund, 'Does social capital travel? Influences on the life satisfaction of young people living in England and Spain', BMC Public Health, Volume 12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
