The European Commission Mutual Learning Programme DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Key policy messages from the Peer Review on the ‘Youth Guarantee’ Helsinki (Finland) 18-19 September 2014 Month Year Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion This publication is commissioned by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013). This programme is implemented by the European Commission. It was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment, social affairs and equal opportunities area, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the EU2020 goals in these fields. The seven-year programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-28, EFTA-EEA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries. For more information see: http://ec.europa.eu/progress For more information on the Mutual Learning programme, please refer to: http://ec.europa.eu/social/mlp European Commission: Emilio Castrillejo, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Unit C.1 Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Author: ICF International The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission October 2014 Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion Key messages from the Peer Review Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 2. The ‘Youth Guarantee’ in Finland: a national priority ........................................ 1 3. The Youth Guarantee in practice: features and key measures ........................... 5 3.1 General overview ............................................................................................................................. 5 3.2 The Youth Guarantee approaches in the Peer Review countries .................................................... 5 3.3 Key measures associated with the Youth Guarantee ...................................................................... 6 4. Working with employers ..............................................................................13 5. Youth Guarantee partnerships ......................................................................14 5.1 Sharing of information among partners ........................................................................................ 16 5.2 Emerging lessons on partnerships ................................................................................................. 16 6. Raising awareness of the Youth Guarantee ....................................................17 7. Next steps: Evaluating and monitoring the Youth Guarantee ............................18 7.1 Monitoring the quality of the offers .............................................................................................. 18 8. Conclusions and lessons; turning the Youth Guarantee into reality ....................19 Month Year Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion 1. Introduction On 18-19 September 2014, the Finnish Government hosted a Peer Review on the ‘Youth Guarantee’. The event brought together ministry officials and independent experts from twelve other Member States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden), as well as representatives from the European Commission. The aim of the event was to present the Finnish Youth Guarantee model and experiences related to its development, implementation and monitoring and examine and evaluate the model in light of practices of participating countries. This policy message report draws on the presentations given as well as roundtable and working group discussions held during the event. The focus is placed on highlighting key messages and practical examples. The report starts off with a short overview of the Finnish Youth Guarantee model1, based on information provided by the range of Finnish stakeholders during the event. It is followed by a broader overview of the Youth Guarantee approach in Europe, based on information from the countries represented at the Peer Review. This section looks at progress in implementation, examines broad similarities and differences in approaches to the Guarantee and outlines some of the key measures constituting the Youth Guarantee. This is followed by reviews of the roles of employers and cross-administrative Youth Guarantee partnerships. The report will also discuss the importance and benefits of awareness raising efforts and observe the potential role of youth organisations in this process. The final section focuses on the on-going monitoring of the Guarantee and the ‘good quality offers’ associated with it, before ending with key conclusions. 2. The ‘Youth Guarantee’ in Finland: a national priority The Finnish Youth Guarantee, spearheaded by the Government Programmes2 and implemented since 1st January 2013, builds on a ‘social guarantee’ scheme that was first introduced in 2005. The ‘social guarantee’ was launched to support young people under the age of 25, and it focused on the improvement and delivery of PES services to young jobseekers. The current Youth Guarantee is more comprehensive in terms of measures and services underpinning it and the depth and breadth of cross- administrative working at both national and local levels. The newly-reformed guarantee is also associated with greater political and financial commitment as well as publicity campaigns to raise the profile of the Guarantee among general public, young people and employers especially. The objective of the Finnish Youth Guarantee is to support young people to gain a place in education, training or employment. All persons under the age of 25 and those aged 25-29 who have graduated within the last 12 months are offered a job, on-the- job training, a study place, a period in a youth workshop, or rehabilitation within three months of becoming unemployed or leaving education. The Guarantee places a particular focus on finding each young person a personalised pathway to employment and on preventing long-term unemployment and social exclusion. The emphasis of the Guarantee depends on the age and education background of young people, with the 1 For further information about the Finnish Youth Guarantee, see http://www.nuorisotakuu.fi/en/youth_guarantee/information/materials or Tuusa M., Pitkänen S. (2014), Host Country Discussion Paper - Review of the Youth Guarantee in Finland. 2 Including the Government Programmes of the Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen (2011-2014) and the Prime Minister Alexander Stubb (2014 ) 1 Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion overall focus on upskilling of low-qualified youth and employment integration of qualified jobseekers. Target groups Guarantee Young people who have just Study place in general education or vocational training completed compulsory (‘school-based’ or an apprenticeship), or education Supportive intervention such as career Low-qualified youth (young preparatory/exploration programme (Career Start), people without an upper supported training workshops where young people can secondary level qualification or undertake practical training and learn life, work and above) study skills (youth workshops) or rehabilitation (e.g. vocational rehabilitation to prepare a young person with learning difficulties or health problems for education or training) Registered young jobseekers Job offer, (applies to all under 25 year Work placement, old jobseekers and recent VET and HE graduates up to the age Study place, or of 30) Supportive interventions (see above) While no specific legislation has been passed in relation to the Youth Guarantee, joint policy statements, reviewed regulations3, cooperation between administrative branches, and the updating of existing legislation have allowed for its implementation4. Crucially, strong political commitment for the Youth Guarantee, both at the central and local levels has been an important force behind its realisation. At the highest political level, its design and rolling out relied on the cooperation of six different ministers from four different political parties. Municipalities have also made a commitment to turn the principle of the Youth Guarantee into practice. Cooperation among a wide variety of actors (many of whom were represented at the roundtable discussion) at both national and local levels is of paramount importance for the effective delivery of the Youth Guarantee in Finland. It is based on a model of public-private-people-partnership, which brings together government officials, private businesses, social partners, representatives of entrepreneurs, civil society organisations and young people, in the design and roll out of the Youth Guarantee. A National Youth Guarantee Working Group was set up to this effect5. In terms of local level, every municipality is expected to establish a ‘youth guidance and service network’ aimed at promoting cross-sectoral cooperation in the field of youth services. With a view to promoting youth participation and empowering young people to create their own future, the results of a national survey of 6,300 young people fed into the design of the Finnish Youth Guarantee. In Finland, municipalities are very large employers and have significant responsibilities in the area of basic and vocational education. As such, municipalities play a key role in fulfilling the Youth Guarantee. In addition to offering