Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Youth – Employment – France »

In April 1986, Leeds City Council staged a three day European Employment Conference on local employment initiatives involving Leeds and its twin cities Dortmund (Federal Republic of Germany) and Lille (France). High on the conference agenda was the problem of youth unemployment. This article discusses some of the local initiatives which were presented at the conference, against the background of various national education, training and employment creation schemes in operation in Germany, Britain and France. It is argued that although their overall impact on the youth unemployment problem is relatively small, the local initiatives described in this paper do provide training of a quality which is often lacking in many of the large-scale nationally based schemes.

Abstract The transnational urgency of tackling youth employment problems has prompted state interventions, which have strongly geared youth policies toward employability. Applying a cognitive and interpretative approach, this article compares youth employment policies in four contexts—France, Canada, Quebec and Argentina—to highlight frames of reference and social norms involved in public action. The results reveal, first, commonalities and differences in public-policy approaches, in terms of goals, targeted populations, solutions, services and tools. Second, beyond policies’ formal characteristics, semantic analysis highlights the major national references and policy directions in the realm of youth employment. Third, the frames of reference show social norms shaping state solidarity and young people’s role in the labour market. The results stem from a documentary analysis of some 100 youth employment policies and programs, as well as interpretative analysis of interviews (N = 20) with experts and coordinators of some of the main policies in each context.

The article examines the concept of integration to achieve the process of inclusion of youth in the development of civil society, taking into account the socio-cultural context, taking into account the historical patterns of the country's development. Current legislation in the field of social protection of youth, in the field of employment, provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the legal regulation of the process of labor integration of youth are analyzed. The works of theorists of labor law and social security law O.M. Yaroshenka, Yu.M. Shchotova, P.M. Rossokhatskgo, T.A. Kolyady were studied. etc. on the subject of the problems of youth implementation of the right to work, as a guarantee of the development of spiritual, creative potential and economic independence. The article draws attention to the problems and obstacles faced by young people in the process of realizing their labor rights. Emphasis is placed on the importance of professional training that a young person can undergo to increase their competitiveness in the labor market. Just as professional training is the process of acquiring or improving professional knowledge, abilities and skills by a person in accordance with his vocation and abilities, which ensures the appropriate level of professional qualification for professional activity and competitiveness in the labor market. The experience of such highly developed countries as Great Britain, Germany, Japan, France, and the USA was studied. Measures taken by countries to limit youth unemployment are noteworthy. The example of Bulgaria is given, where the practice of developing age-differentiated employment programs for young people is widespread; Germany, where there is professional selection and career guidance at an early age; the combination of professional training and production activities at the expense of specially created government funds by local authorities takes place in Denmark; encouraging employers to employ young people aged 16 to 26 in the form of reduced amounts of social contributions for them as a kind of tax benefits is actively used in France and Spain; the active practice of involving young people in six-month internships with at least the minimum wage has a positive effect on the further employment of young people in Australia. Proposals are given for the introduction of advanced foreign experience.

School-to-work patterns and issues are discussed for seven economies (France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The emphasis is placed on differences across countries in the current labor market position of young people and recent trends therein, along with the institutions that regulate youth education, training, and employment. The power of public policies—including labor market deregulation, labor market programs, vocationalization of education, and apprenticeship—to improve youth outcomes is discussed, drawing on national evaluation literatures. Evidence of extensive policy failure points up the need to develop nationally appropriate institutions to improve school-to-work transitions.

This article explores changes in the “relationship to work” (Paugam, 2000; Longo, 2011; Longo & Bourdon, 2016) among young entrants in the field of youth work across the stages of “professional socialization” (Hughes, 1996; Author 1, 2020) associated with the first years of practice. It explores the experiences of 17 young youth workers, based on comprehensive interviews conducted during ethnographic fieldwork carried out in nine youth services organizations based in the Toulouse region of France. A combination of thematic analysis and temporal bracketing supports cross-case analysis of the collected professional trajectory narratives, revealing a four-part typology of how young workers develop their relationship to work. The article identifies the three main factors at play as employment and working conditions, access to occupational training, and relationships with managers in the workplace.

Work plays an important role in the lives of both societies and individuals. It serves as both a means for social integration and a source of identity, notwithstanding historical contexts marked by precarious employment. Whereas much international research and many comparative studies have addressed young people’s relationship to work, the existing literature tends to paint a rather uniform picture of youth. This article begins with a focus on the unique aspects of the relationship to work among vulnerable youth, which leads to an exploration of the processes by which these individuals develop agency. Coupled with inductive qualitative analysis, the systematic international perspective provided by interviews conducted with vulnerable youth (dropouts, immigrants, Indigenous persons, rural residents, and overqualified individuals) in Quebec and France shows that labour market participation not only remains important to these youth but constitutes a hub around which their lives acquire structure and meaning. They experience inactivity very negatively and express strong criticism of social assistance. Although vulnerable youth are acutely affected by material insecurity and often cite the desire to earn money as a reason for working, financial considerations remain complex by involving a variety of dimensions. Finally, despite the hardships they experience, young people tend to describe the labour market in pragmatic and optimistic terms.

The 1960s myth that good vocational counseling means successful youth entry into employment is back in favor and imposing itself on educational policy as an absolute priority during this period of high unemployment. But implementation of these youth career planning and employment policies has largely been delegated to local-level authorities, where interventions now take the form of reticular projects.This is the context in which we test the hypothesis of a crisis in the work of actors providing youth vocational counseling, program coordinators of various ranks, psychological counselors, and referent teachers working with students.The methodology for the main study is based on interviews with a range of professionals. A supplementary study analyzed the content of articles in “L’echo des régions”, the magazine of the Association of the Regions of France, from 2010 to 2015.One finding to emerge from these observations is that the educational system internalizes concerns connected with job openings in occupations, while actors focused on post-scholastic job placement request more general education. This role inversion highlights the main contradictions running through youth vocational guidance. All actors attest to the limitations thwarting their voluntarism as well as to the dilemmas they face. Among the identified obstacles are the individualization of vocational paths and the emergence of case-by-case counseling, the application of the principle of equality to competing strategies, the disorganization of institutions allocated declining financial resources, conflicts of interest in partnerships, devalued courses of study, and insecure jobs. We also observed that the proffered arguments propose handling youth career counseling and entry into employment according to an “emergency response” model. In such a landscape devoid of egalitarian prospects, it nonetheless emerges that the path toward the equality of girls with boys is more open. At the same time, an opposing gender logic appears in the distribution of professional tasks, with particular consequences for women and especially female teachers.

Across the European Union (EU) persistently high levels of unemployment amongst young citizens risk the creation of a 'lost generation' of individuals. In response, the European Commission has launched a number of measures aimed at fostering strong levels of youth employment, including the Youth Employment Package (YEP) and the Young Employment Initiative (YEI). Their ultimate delivery however, depends heavily on the aspirations and capacity of the member states, both at the national-level, and crucially, at the local level. This thesis investigates the extent to which the concept of multi-level governance (MLG) can help us to understand policy-making and implementation in the field of EU youth employment policy. It focusses specifically on the distinct national and subnational experiences of two highly unitary EU member states, the UK (England) and France. Unitary states, often overlooked within the MLG scholarship in favour of decentralised and federal states, offer a valuable opportunity to identify the specific internal and external factors that serve to enable, support, hinder or block instances of multi-level governance- which may be missed in more conducive settings. Indeed, at first glance, this thesis finds that national state-executives dominate the policy-making and implementation processes around EU youth employment policy. Critically, however, a deeper investigation discovers that they are unable to monopolise these processes. Instead, the picture painted in this thesis is one of contestation, rivalry, and conflicting interests between the supranational, national and subnational tiers. The thesis consequently reveals important implications for the MLG literature.

In Europe, in the last few decades, the subsidiarisation process of the social policies and employment strategies has created a strong impact on the local actors’ networks that are implementing the new active policies. The consequences of this operation have to be managed by professionals who, while working with the general public, have to explain to the users the fractures of a welfare state in transition from a socialization of collective risks to an individual responsibility of protection. In this way they give a meaning to the new institutional geographical and social frontiers that are built by active political devices. In Europe, in the last few decades, the subsidiarisation process of the social policies and employment strategies has created a strong impact on the local actors’ networks that are implementing the new active policies. The consequences of this operation have to be managed by professionals who, while working with the general public, have to explain to the users the fractures of a welfare state in transition from a socialization of collective risks to an individual responsibility of protection. In this way they give a meaning to the new institutional geographical and social frontiers that are built by active political devices.

Améliorer l’accès et la qualité de l’emploi des jeunes figure parmi les priorités en France. Ainsi, ce travail doctoral aide à comprendre l’efficacité et les limites des canaux formels et informels. Les trois études empiriques de cette thèse fournissent un état des lieux de l’employabilité des jeunes en mettant l’accent sur les tendances concernant leurs pratiques de recherche et la qualité des emplois qu’ils obtiennent. Ces trois études sont précédés par une introduction générale et une revue de littérature. La première est dédiée à l’analyse des déterminants de l’accès à l’emploi à travers un mode de recherche bien déterminé. Dans le cadre de cette analyse, les effets de certains facteurs tels que l’origine, le genre, le lieu de résidence et l’éducation sont mis en évidence. La deuxième s’interroge sur l’influence des modes d’accès sur la qualité et la satisfaction de l’emploi obtenu. La troisième s’intéresse aux demandeurs d’emploi afin de comprendre leurs préférences et leurs stratégies de prospection. Cette dernière étude de la thèse est dédiée à la comparaison entre les pratiques (en termes d’intensité et de préférences) employées par les individus en emploi et celles menées par les chômeurs. Nos conclusions suggèrent un renforcement du rôle joué par les intermédiaires institutionnels de placement (en particulier le service public) mais aussi la nécessité de renforcer davantage le rôle des établissements scolaires afin de promouvoir le réseau scolaire comme moyen de recrutement
Improve youth employment’s quality is a priority in France. This thesis focuses on job search and job access trends, in addition to the role played by the informal and formal search channels on the job matching issue. It helps understanding the informal and formal channels’ efficiency and limitations in order to ameliorate youth employment as France continues to prioritize youth in its national policy agendas. This PhD work offers valuable lessons learned on "who uses what" and on "what works" better for youth employment through three empirical studies.These three studies are preceded by a general introduction and a literature review. The first chapter is dedicated to the analysis of the job access channel’s determinants. As part of this chapter, the effects of some factors such as origin, gender, place of residence and education are emphasized. The second chapter examines the influence of these access channels on the quality and the satisfaction with the obtained job. The third chapter focuses on the comparaison of on- and out-of-the job seekers’ preferences, search intensity and strategies. Our findings suggest a further strengthening of the role played by the public employment service as well as the role of schools as a possible recruitment channel

En Rhône-Alpes l’économie se spécialise de plus en plus dans différentes activités de services – notamment de consultance et d'assistance, santé-action sociale, commerce, hôtellerie-restauration et services opérationnels– et dans la construction. La précarisation de l’emploi – comprise comme la combinaison persistante des bas salaires et de l'instabilité du poste– touche, aussi bien en France qu'en Rhône-Alpes, spécialement les jeunes salarié-e-s. Loin de se limiter à une période transitoire, cette précarisation se développe dans la vie sociale et professionnelle de segments importants de la population laborieuse. À partir des Déclarations Annuelles de Données Sociales (DADS), nous avons analysé la recomposition des rapports entre les groupes d’âge et de sexe, ce qui évidence les tendances générales de la région et les particularités sectorielles de la segmentation des relations salariales. Trois éléments – l’âge, le sexe et le secteur économique– sont les éléments structurants de cette thèse sur la précarisation de l’emploi des jeunes et le renforcement de la segmentation par l’âge et par le sexe. Ces éléments opèrent comme vecteur de recomposition intégrale des économies salariales de services, en combinant le renouvellement sectoriel et la substitution générationnelle des relations d’emploi. Dans une période de stagnation d'une partie importante des rémunérations salariales, l'emploi des jeunes se précarise par la multiplication des bas salaires, l'instabilité des postes et la faible perspective de carrière interne au secteur. Cette précarisation de l'emploi des jeunes est aussi bien conséquence que moteur de la recomposition sectorielle de l'emploi. La concentration des jeunes dans les activités émergentes reproduit la segmentation sexuée des emplois. Cette recomposition sectorielle et générationnelle de l'emploi renforce les processus de segmentation par l'âge : des secteurs traditionnels vieillissants – aux conditions plus décentes–, des zones de précarisation – concernant notamment des jeunes– en expansion, et des secteurs stratégiques un peu moins jeunes et fortement inégalitaires. Enfin, certain-e-s salarié-e-s – bien souvent des femmes– restent après la jeunesse durablement enfermé-e-s dans des bas salaires et l'instabilité de l'emploi. C'est la précarité-horizon tout au long de leur (absence de) carrière
The Rhône-Alpes economy is increasingly specializing in diverse service activities, such as consulting and assistance services, health and social action, commerce sector, hotels and restaurants, and operational services, along with the building sector. Employment precarization – defined as the persistent combination of low wages and job insecurity– especially affects young employees, both in Rhône-Alpes and France. Far from being limited to a transition period, this precarization persists throughout the social and professional lives of important segments of the working class. Relying on the Déclarations Annuelles de Données Sociales (DADS), we have underlined the restructuring by age and sex groups and showed regional trends as well as the distinctive sector features of employment relationship precarization. These three elements – age, sex and economic sector– are the key elements of this thesis on the precarization of youth employment and its increasing segmentation. In such a process, the sectoral and generational renewal of employment relationships combine to drive a full recomposition of service-sector wage-economies. In a period of near-general wage stagnation, youth employment is becoming increasingly precarious due to the rise of low wages, job insecurity and low career prospects in the same sector. This precarization of youth employment is both a consequence and a driving factor of the sector recomposition of employment. The concentration of young people in emerging branches reproduces the sexual segmentation of employment. This sector and generational recomposition of employment reinforces age segmentation : traditional sectors, with more decent conditions, dominated by an ageing labour force ; expanding areas of precarization, notably concerning young people; whereas strategic sectors, where employees are not so young, showing high internal inequalities. Finally, some employees – mostly women– remain locked up in low wages and job insecurity even after ageing out of the younger period cohorts. It is the precariousness as horizon throughout their (absence of) career
La economía de Rhône-Alpes tiende a especializarse en la construcción y en diversas actividades de servicios – consultoría y asesoría, salud y la acción social, comercio, hoteles y restaurantes, y servicios operativos o auxiliares, principalmente. Además, la precarización del empleo – entendida como combinación persistente de bajos salarios e inestabilidad de los puestos– afecta, tanto en Francia como en Rhône-Alpes, sobre todo a los y las jóvenes empleadas. Lejos de limitarse a un período transitorio, esta precarización se expande en la vida social y profesional de partes importantes de la población trabajadora. Mediante la observación de las Déclarations Annuelles de Données Sociales (DADS) hemos analizado la recomposición de las relaciones entres los grupos de edad y los sexos, evidenciando las tendencias generales de la región y las particularidades sectoriales de las relaciones salariales segmentadas. Estos tres elementos – edad, sexo y sector económico– estructuran esta tesis sobre la precarización del empleo juvenil y la creciente segmentación por edad y por sexo. En este proceso se combinan la renovación sectorial y la substitución generacional de las relaciones de empleo, que operan como vector de recomposición integral de las economías salariales de servicios.En un periodo de estancamiento de una parte importante de las remuneraciones salariales, el empleo juvenil se precariza por la proliferación de bajos salarios, puestos inestables y de baja perspectiva de trayectoria laboral ascendente interna al sector. Esta precarización del empleo juvenil es a la vez consecuencia y motor de la reestructuración sectorial del empleo. La concentración de jóvenes en actividades emergentes reproduce opciones de empleo altamente segmentadas por sexo. La recomposición sectorial y generacional del empleo fortalece el proceso de segmentación por la edad : por un lado se observan sectores tradicionales – con condiciones más decentes– en proceso de envejecimiento; por otro, se consolidan zonas de precarización, especialmente juveniles, en expansión; y, así mismo, constatamos la existencia de una serie de sectores estratégicos, con empleados y empleadas no tan jóvenes, y con desigualdades internas fuertes. Por último, señalar que algunos empleados – y, sobre todo, empleadas– permanecen tras el periodo juvenil atrapadas en bajos salarios e inestabilidad contractual. Es la precariedad-horizonte a lo largo de su (ausencia de) carrera
Rhône-Alpeetako ekonomiak eraikuntzan eta zenbait zerbitzu jardueratan espezializatzeko joera hartu du azken hamarkadetan – aholkularitza eta laguntza zerbitzuak, osasun eta gizarte ekintza, merkataritza, ostatuak eta jatetxeak, eta zerbitzu osagarriak dira nagusiak. Era berean, enpleguaren prekarizazioak – soldata baxuen eta lanpostu ezegonkorren luzaroko egoeren konbinazioa – gazte langileei eragiten die bereziki, bai Frantzian, eta bai Rhône-Alpeetan ere. Enpleguaren prekarizazioa behin-behineko trantsizio egoera izan beharrean, langileriaren adar anitzen bizi baldintzetan hedatzen da. Déclarations Annuelles de Données Sociales (DADS) datu basearen bidez, adin eta sexu taldeen arteko berrosaketa aztertu dugu, eskualdeko joera orokorrak eta soldatapeko hainbat sektoreren lan harreman segmentatuen berezitasunak nabarmentzeko. Hiru elementu hauek dira – adina, sexua eta sektore ekonomikoa– gazte enpleguaren prekarizazioa eta handitzen doan adin eta sexuaren araberako lan harremanen segmentazioari buruzko tesi honen egiturazko osagaiak , soldatapeko zerbitzu ekonomien berrosaketa integralaren ardatz direnak, sektoreen berrikuntza eta belaunaldien arteko ordezkapenaren bidez gauzatzen dena.Soldatapeko langileentzako errenta igoera nabarmenik egon ez den epean, gazteen enpleguak prekarizatu dira, soldata baxuko lanpostu ezegonkorren ugaltzearen bidez eta sektore barruko ibilbidea egiteko aukerak murriztuta. Gazteen enpleguaren prekarizazioa sektore berrosaketaren abiapuntua zein motorra da. Gazteen kontzentrazioak jarduera nagusi berrietan sexuaren araberako segmentatutako enplegu aukerak birsortzen ditu. Era berean, enpleguaren sektore eta belaunaldien arteko berrosaketak adinaren araberako segmentazioa indartzen du : baldintza hobeak dituzten sektore tradizionalen zaharkitzea, prekarizazio guneen hedapena – bereziki gazteentzat–, eta, azkenik, ez hain gazteek osatutako sektore estrategikoak, non barne desorekak diren nagusi. Bukatzeko, zenbait langile, batez ere emakumeak, gazte garaiaren ondoren soldata baxuko enplegu ezegonkorretan gatibu geratzen direla egiaztatu da, eta prekarizazio-etorkizuna duen karrera (eza) sortzen du

Cette thèse de doctorat examine les principales défaillances du marché du travail qui entraînent que les travailleurs n’arrivent pas à obtenir la pleine rémunération potentielle qui corresponde à leur capital humain. Il y a « inefficacité salariale » lorsque le salaire obtenu est inférieur au maximum atteignable. Dans un tel cas, les salariés reçoivent un salaire injuste par rapport au capital humain disposé. Cela décourage à investir dans son capital humain ce qui aura tendance à réduire la productivité totale, à affaiblir la compétitivité et à nuire à la croissance économique du pays. La contribution que nous apportons à travers ce travail est de trois ordres. Dans un premier temps, nous proposons un nouveau regard par rapport à l’intégration des jeunes sur le marché du travail. Plutôt que d’examiner si les individus obtiennent un contrat de travail stable ou non, nous adoptons une approche qui s’intéresse à la qualité de l’appariement « emploi – compétences » de jeunes entrant fraîchement dans la vie active. Nos travaux fournissent des résultats empiriques qui mettent en évidence les différentes théories de recherche d’emploi. Dans un second temps, en raison du considérable défi que représente l'identification et l'évaluation des pratiques discriminatoires sur le marché du travail, nous proposons une approche innovatrice et efficace pour examiner le phénomène du plafond de verre (barrière invisible à l’accès des postes de décision mieux rémunérés). Dans la dernière partie de cette thèse, nous proposons un modèle économétrique théorique qui améliore la correction du problème de biais de sélection pour les modèles de frontière stochastique
This doctoral thesis addresses issues related to employees’ imperfect information on the labour market and discrimination, generally all direct consequences of labour underpayment or “earnings inefficiency”. Workers are in a situation of earnings inefficiency when they do not receive the full potential remuneration corresponding to their human capital endowment: unfair pay for greater stock of human capital. This situation is problematic from a policy-makers point of view as it could weaken work incentives, discourage investments in human capital, and harm economic growth and competitiveness. It could also widen inequality within the society and contribute to the increase in relative poverty.The contribution we make through this work is threefold. First, we examine the integration of young people into the labour market from a new angle. Instead of examining whether individuals obtain stable employment or not, we use an approach that focuses on the quality of the job matching for young people entering the workforce and lacking labour market information. This first chapter provides empirical evidence on job search theories. In a second chapter, because of the considerable challenge of identifying and assessing discriminatory practices in the labour market, we propose an innovative and effective approach to examine the phenomenon of the glass ceiling (an invisible barrier to management positions associated with higher earnings). Finally, the last part of this doctoral thesis is devoted to improving the econometric approach we use. We propose a theoretical econometric model that improves correction for sample selection bias with stochastic frontier models

Defence date: 17 June 1999
Examining board: Prof. Richard Breen, EUI (co-supervisor); Prof. Colin Crouch, EUI (supervisor); Prof. Luis J. Garrido Medina, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia; Prof. Catherine Marry, LASMAS-IRESCO-CNRS
First made available online 18 September 2017
This is an in-depth, cross-national comparative study of living arrangements of young people in Europe. It compares France and Spain and proposes a theoretical framework for understanding international variations in young people's living conditions and transitions to adulthood. The study attempts to answer the question: Why do some young people stay longer at home than others? This leads to a sociological interpretation of differences in the opportunity structure of young people and of their respective strategies in the transition to social independence. This research links micro and macro-level analysis and matches two national large-scale surveys to treat a topic which is of relevance to many people, especially with regards to social policy reforms.

Les jeunes (15 à 29 ans) sont particulièrement vulnérables aux chocs économiques et la capacité à intégrer le marché du travail est une étape importante influençant leur bien-être à long terme. La crise financière de 2007-08 a donc eu des effets importants sur eux. En réponse, les États capitalistes avancés ont adopté une série de politiques pour aider les jeunes. Pourtant, malgré ces nouvelles politiques, les dépenses publiques pour le marché du travail n’ont pas augmenté de manière stable lors de la période. Les analyses récentes semblent confirmer qu’au lieu d’investir dans les programmes plus dispendieux, les États adoptent des politiques axées sur une rhétorique de droits et de responsabilités. En effet, selon certains chercheurs, les États ont adopté des politiques qui créent des incitatifs pour joindre le marché du travail au lieu d’investir dans le capital humain. La recherche actuelle appuie l'argumentaire que les États-providence convergent autour de politiques de faible coût. Nonobstant les pressions pour le changement, les États ont différents besoins. Ainsi, il reste improbable qu’ils adoptent les mêmes solutions. Aucune analyse récente n’a étudié les politiques d’emploi des jeunes adoptées depuis la crise financière. Cette thèse pose alors la question, comment est-ce que les États-providence ont modifié leurs politiques de transition depuis la crise financière? La thèse répond à cette question à partir de trois cadres analytiques du changement politique. Ces cadres sont appliqués à trois études de cas : le Danemark, la France et le Royaume-Uni. Afin de pleinement considérer ces politiques dans toute leur complexité, cette thèse se sert d'une typologie des incitatifs d'activation pour comparer des mélanges d'instruments entre gouvernements. Une fois les mélanges d'incitatifs déterminés, une analyse de process-tracing détermine comment les États ont modifié leurs politiques de transition depuis la crise financière. Ces recherches nous permettent de constater que ces trois pays ont adopté de nouvelles politiques pour l’emploi des jeunes depuis la crise financière. Dans chaque étude de cas, les États ont adopté des politiques qui perpétuent la logique d’action dominante. Or, chaque étude de cas a aussi adopté des politiques qui dévient de la logique d’action dominante. Ces changements sont expliqués à l'aide de trois cadres théoriques, l'apprentissage, les ressources et l'institutionnalisme historique. Cette recherche contribue à la littérature de l'État-providence en outrepassant la littérature existante et donnant un rapport détaillé des politiques d'activation pour les jeunes et de leur adoption depuis la crise financière.
Youth (15 to 29-year-olds) are vulnerable to economic shocks, and the ability to enter the labour market has significant effects on their long-term wellbeing. Consequently, the 2007-08 financial crisis had the potential to affect youth gravely, which is why welfare states adopted a series of policy initiatives to help youth in the post-crisis. Although countries adopted policies, traditional data such as labour market policy expenditures do not reveal increased spending consistent with higher unemployment levels. Research also shows welfare states have favoured policies that reinforce incentives to join the labour market and help individuals market their skills over more expensive policies that invest in human capital since the financial crisis. These analyses support the argument welfare states are converging around low-cost policies. These pressures notwithstanding, the adoption of similar policies is unusual because the needs between countries remain diverse. For that reason, and despite the factors inhibiting change, countries should not be adopting the same policies to respond to high youth unemployment. This dissertation investigates this complex policy environment by using a typology of activation incentives to compare policy instrument mixes between governments. Process-tracing is then used to determine how welfare states modified their youth employment policies since the financial crisis. First, qualitative data is used to identify the different policy mixes adopted in each case. Second, the policymaking process is analyzed using process-tracing methods. Research findings indicate all three cases, Denmark, France, and the United Kingdom, adopted new youth policies after the financial crisis. In addition to funding policies that continue typical logics found in each country, evidence shows each case adopted policies that deviate from established logics. These results are explained using three theoretical frameworks to identify mechanisms for change: policy learning, power resources and historical institutionalism. For each case, the dissertation outlines how these factors interacted to affect the policymaking process. This research contributes to welfare state literature by going beyond existing quantitative analysis to provide an in-depth account of youth activation policies and the policymaking process in the post-crisis.

This chapter examines countries' performance regarding youth unemployment. Although the labour market situation of young people has started to improve in a number of countries since the Great Recession of 2007–8, youth unemployment still remains very high across Europe. High youth unemployment rates reflect young people's difficulties in securing employment, or the inefficiency of the labour market. Germany and the Netherlands have established the most effective institutions to achieve a high integration of 15–19 year-olds in education and employment. Indeed, both Germany and the Netherlands are amongst the highest performing countries in the EU for making sure their young people are in employment. Austria and Denmark also achieve good youth labour market and employment outcomes. Meanwhile, countries like France and the UK try to facilitate school-to-work (STW) transitions by lowering labour costs through subsidies or low employment protection.

Radha Jagannathan and Michael Camasso author this chapter that examines the feasibility of exporting the spirit of entrepreneurship, a mindset that has traditionally existed in the mix of policies to promote youth economic development in the United States. Using a Tocquevillian view that Americans follow ‘the principle of self-interest rightly understood” as a vehicle, the chapter portrays how Americans approach economic activity generally, and provides an overview of policy tools adopted by the United States from both the demand and supply side of the labor market and the flexible character of the economy. The rather discouraging results the USA has had in implementing VET programs through various employment and training legislations are recounted in the chapter, as are some demand-side fixes to the labor market such as wage subsidies to employers and minimum wage changes. These discussions are prologue to a longer treatment of American entrepreneurship and how it has been used a pivotal youth employment strategy. Lastly, the chapter examines the transferability of American-style entrepreneurship to Greece, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain and provides some suggestions for success in this regard.

Radha Jagannathan authors this final chapter and begins with an examination of the disconnect that exists between knowledge/data on the employment policies with an empirical record of success and the motivation to implement these policies that could dramatically reduce the youth unemployment rates in southern Mediterranean countries. This apparent disconnect is explored through a cultural lens with the help of five, not necessarily mutually exclusive, hypotheses. The chapter then goes on to provide the reader with a scorecard of the feasibility of the German and American models for the southern Mediterranean countries featured in this book. This scorecard contrasts the rankings of chapter experts with assessments of each country’s (Spain, Portugal, Greece, France, Italy) prospects by the authors of the German and American chapters (chapters 7 and 8). Each chapter expert was asked to provide a brief rational for his/her ranking based on the data and discussion which appears in the chapter contributions. These rationales are presented unfiltered. The chapter concludes with a final word on technology transfer in an environment of renewed nationalism.

The chapter opens by noting the recurrence of depictions of disillusioned young executives, products of France’s elite business schools, in films by Cantet, Moutout, Corneau and Kim Chapiron and in testimonial literature by Sophie Talneau, Jonathan Curiel, Alexandre des Isnards and Thomas Zuber. In their different ways, all of these texts depict France’s young academic elite as being doomed to disillusionment by the nature of the education they receive and the realities of the contemporary labour market. In this, these privileged individuals betray an unexpected similarity with what might seem more obvious candidates for the moniker ‘doomed youth’, namely France’s ethnic minority banlieue inhabitants, whose fate is also understood to reflect problems in the interrelationships between education and employment. This chapter will therefore examine films and novels that seek to represent the ways in which shifts in the labour market have been mirrored in the adoption of post-disciplinary pedagogies and business-oriented curricula that challenge fundamental republican notions of meritocracy and social integration through education and employment.

The idea that large numbers of young people in sub-Saharan Africa are stuck in waithood – trapped between childhood and adulthood – dominates international development policy discourse. The belief is that because there are no jobs, young people cannot attain social markers of adulthood. Waithood has proved itself to be a very attractive way to frame debates and promote youth employment interventions. But research challenges two aspects of the waithood story: that young people are inactive; and that work is the only route into adulthood. Caution and nuance are required to prevent waithood becoming another catchy term that does little to improve policy.