National and European Policy Responses to Youth Unemployment – Combating the Failure to Launch

Abstract

Scholars and the media alike have noted an increase in the amount of time today’s young people need to successfully transition to adulthood; in other words, to become economically self-sufficient. More specifically, unemployment, especially among young adults, is a particularly pernicious and persistent problem within Europe, despite the numerous efforts that have been made by national governments and the EU to encourage young people’s inclusion in the labor market. This panel seeks to explore the various challenges faced by young adults in terms of labor market inclusion as well as to focus on policy responses. Across Europe, young adults face different sorts of barriers to both entering the labor market and achieving economic self-sufficiency. National responses to these challenges also vary greatly with regard to both policy design and outcome. Moreover, the ways in which national governments have adopted and implemented EU measures aimed at combating youth unemployment have also witnessed varying degrees of success. To shed more light on an acute and pressing socioeconomic problem, the panel includes papers analyzing youth unemployment from a comparative perspective using a variety of data sources, empirical methods, and theoretical frameworks. Particular attention is paid to the efficacy of active labor market policies and their relation to the welfare state.