Youth Unemployment and Labour Market Policies in Europe

Since the seventies, the youth unemployment rate has steadily increased in every European country. Many labour market policies have therefore been implemented to cope with this issue. First, we will analyse the reforms in work-related benefits (unemployment insurance, unemployment assistance, social assistance) over the past decade in European countries to see if they have led to a more extensive support of young new entrants into the labour market. Second, we will show how active labour market policies towards young people have followed to main strategies in order to foster youth employment: a strategy focused on the lowering of the youth labour cost, with the implementation of wage subsidies or exemptions of social contributions, and another strategy that aims at boosting young people’s skills through vocational training. Lastly, we will put an emphasis on the specific kind of ALMP that is currently spreading out: youth guarantees.