Thematic Study on Policy Measures Concerning Disadvantaged Youth

Thematic Study on Policy Measures concerning Disadvantaged Youth Study commissioned by the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs in the framework of the Community Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion 2002 – 2006 Contract No. VC/2004/0139 Coordinated by the Institute for Regional Innovation and Social Research (IRIS), Tübingen Final Report Volume Andreas Walther & Axel Pohl In collaboration with Andy Biggart, Ilse Julkunen, Yuri Kazepov and Siyka Kovacheva Tübingen, October 2005 Thematic Studies on Policy Measures concerning Disadvantaged Youth. Final Report. Volume 1 Thematic Study on Policy Measures concerning Disadvantaged Youth Study commissioned by the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs in the framework of the Community Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion 2002 – 2006 Coordination: Andreas Walther & Axel Pohl, IRIS Tübingen National Experts: Mario Steiner, Institute of Advanced Studies, Vienna (Austria) Siyka Kovacheva, New Europe Centre, Plovdiv (Bulgaria) Torben Bechmann Jensen, University of Copenhagen (Denmark) Ilse Julkunen, STAKES, Helsinki (Finland) Penelope Stathakopoulos, IEKEP, Athens (Greece) Yuri Kazepov, University of Urbino (Italy) Bohdan Jung, Warsaw School of Economics (Poland) Luis Capucha, ISCTE Lisbon (Portugal) Octav Marcovici, Youth Research Institute, Bucharest (Romania) Ladislav Machacek, University of Trnava (Slovakia) Mirjana Ule, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) Andreu López Blasco, AREA Valencia (Spain) Andy Biggart, Coleraine, Ulster (UK) Acknowledgements: We want to acknowledge and thank all those who have collaborated in this study without being listed by name for their efforts in collecting and analysing national data and producing case studies in good practice policies. Disclaimer: This report has been prepared under a service contract with the Commission of the European Union. The views expressed herein are those of the Consortium producing this report, and do not necessarily represent any official view of the Commission and in particular the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, which commissioned the work. 2 Thematic Studies on Policy Measures concerning Disadvantaged Youth. Final Report. Volume 1 Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 19 2. Methodology and Procedure ................................................................................................ 25 3. Youth transitions and disadvantage in Europe: concepts and perspectives ......................... 32 3.1 De-standardisation of youth transitions.......................................................................... 32 3.2 Disadvantage: concepts and policies.............................................................................. 35 3.3 Regimes of youth transitions across Europe .................................................................. 38 4. Constellations of disadvantage in youth transitions............................................................. 42 4.1 Key background indicators: factors of early school leaving.......................................... 42 4.2 Key problems in transitions to work: factors of youth unemployment and precariousness ...................................................................................................................... 48 4.3 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 62 5. Policy approaches and policy mixes .................................................................................... 63 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 64 5.2 Policies against early school leaving.............................................................................. 65 5.2.1 General measures .................................................................................................... 66 5.2.2 School-related measures.......................................................................................... 69 5.2.3 Training ................................................................................................................... 75 5.3 Policy-mixes against youth unemployment ................................................................... 85 5.3.1 Activation policies: individualised guidance and counselling ................................ 86 5.3.2 Active labour market policies ................................................................................. 94 5.3.3 Active Labour Market Policies and policy mixes ................................................... 98 6. Factors for sustainable inclusion of disadvantaged youth.................................................. 105 6.1 What means ‘success’ in policies for disadvantaged youth? ....................................... 105 6.2 Factors of policy success.............................................................................................. 107 6.2.1 Funding.................................................................................................................. 107 6.2.2 Targeting the disadvantaged – questions of access and flexibility ....................... 109 6.2.3 Respecting prerequisites of young people’s motivation ....................................... 114 6.2.4 Integrated Transition Policies: a question of coordination and partnership.......... 118 6.3 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 132 7. Good practice in including disadvantaged youth in comparative perspective: implications for mutual learning................................................................................................................. 133 7.1 Path dependency of national constellations of disadvantage and policy mixes........... 133 3 Thematic Studies on Policy Measures concerning Disadvantaged Youth. Final Report. Volume 1 7.1.1 Constellations of disadvantage across different transition regimes ...................... 134 7.1.2 Consistency of policy-mixes with constellations of disadvantage and transition regimes ........................................................................................................................... 141 7.2 Implications of path dependency for mutual learning.................................................. 152 8. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 155 8.1 Integrated Transition Policies....................................................................................... 155 Youth mainstreaming – a way to strengthen policies for disadvantaged young people? ........................................................................................................................................ 156 8.2 Policy Recommendations............................................................................................. 158 Funding........................................................................................................................... 159 Access............................................................................................................................. 160 Coordination of policies................................................................................................. 161 Reflexivity...................................................................................................................... 162 Empowerment ................................................................................................................ 163 8.3 European perspectives.................................................................................................. 164 References .............................................................................................................................. 166 Annex I: Research consortium and consulted experts ........................................................... 174 1. Members of the research consortium ............................................................................. 174 2. Experts involved in the national validation process (see Volume 2, Annex VI) ........... 176 3. Experts involved in the European Seminar „Tackling youth disadvantage“, Brussels, 15- 16 September 2005 (see Volume 2, Annex VI) ................................................................. 183 4 Thematic Studies on Policy Measures concerning Disadvantaged Youth. Final Report. Volume 1 List of Figures Figure 1: Youth unemployment (< 25 years) and early school leaving (2004; Eurostat LFS)* .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 2: Ratio of youth unemployment to overall unemployment 2000 and 2004 (Eurostat, LFS).................................................................................................................................. 20 Figure 3: Timetable .................................................................................................................. 26 Figure 4: ‘Normal’ transition model .......................................................................................

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