No Country for Young People? Youth Labour Market Problems in Europe - a new CEPR eBook edited by Juan J Dolado

Youth unemployment has been Europe’s most sensationalised symptom of the Global Recession. It has left the economy with no place for the restless young. But the problem is endemic in Europe – it goes back much further than 2008. Policymakers have prescribed many solutions, none of which has made systemic corrections, not least because of the heterogeneity of the characteristics and policy choices of European economies.

This eBook reviews the policy lessons from recent experiences with the aim of (i) improving the transition from school to work; (ii) fostering the creation of more jobs for young people; and (iii) increasing the wellbeing of youths overall. To do so, it focuses on specific country experiences, ranging from those that have been successful in respect to the above aims to others that have performed much worse. The eBook also looks at the prospects for the recently proposed Youth Guarantee as a new ‘Marshall Plan’ from the European Commission regarding a global solution to youth joblessness.

Based on these analyses, policymakers are advised to address the structural problems of labour markets and education systems in some EU economies, as both are key to the Youth Guarantee effectively providing training and good quality jobs for young people where they are most acutely needed. Otherwise, the slight twist on the Coen brothers’ creation in the title of the eBook may become a reality.

The eBook is available here.