The Role of Education and Training in Smoothing the School to Work Transition and Reducing Youth Unemployment

Youth unemployment is one of the most substantial challenges in Europe at the moment. The average levels of youth unemployment in Europe is double that of the overall unemployment rate, with peaks of over 40% in certain countries. As part of the Europe 2020 strategy education and training has taken centre stage to achieve the goals of developing a sustainable knowledge economy in the European market. Young people are thus at centre stage of European policy and strategy for the future. Adequate and appropriate education and training, matching the knowledge and skills given to contemporary young people with what is in demand in the labour market, is also crucial for achieving a smooth transition from school to work. The skills mismatch has been identified as one of the main challenges in the EU.  This paper will start by mapping education and training platforms in the EU and evaluate how successful the member countries have been in implementing EU recommendations. It will draw on analyses of original data and outline and compare different policy measures adopted by national governments and identify typical patterns of diffusion. The paper will also aim to situate the policy analysis in the youth studies field, exploring concepts such as agency, transitions and socialisation and how these are expressed in the policy documents.