Fighting youth unemployment through active labour-market policies

Over the past decade, the unemployment rate of young Europeans has been constantly higher  than that of all other age groups. Economic and financial crises – not least the one triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic – have hit young job seekers the hardest. As specific socio-economic factors concur in causing youth unemployment, specific policy measures targeting young people can be better suited to fight it. This approach is at the basis of initiatives like the Reinforced Youth Guarantee.

Policies aiming at boosting young people’s employment can be subdivided in two main groups. Some directly offer insertion in the labour market by sponsoring measures like temporary job placements and paid in-work trainings. 

Other policies focus on stimulating employers to hire young job seekers, through economic advantages like the reduction of taxation and social security contributions. The two approaches are not exclusive. In fact, in a majority of countries, policy-makers apply a mix of the two. 

In a minority of countries, employment measures either exist only in the framework of the EU Youth Guarantee (therefore shaped by common guidelines set up at EU level) or do not specifically target young people.