Research group meets to tackle on youth unemployment

This week (11th-12th January) the STYLE research group met in Copenhagen to discuss their on-going studies and current findings.

STYLE, (Strategic Transition for Youth Labour in Europe), aims to provide an understanding of the high levels of youth unemployment in Europe and assess labour market policies aiming to curb this issue. During the meeting the researchers raised key questions to do with their research including: “Who are the most vulnerable young people on the labour market?” and “What is the role of family backgrounds in youth transitions on the labour market?”

The researchers reported some striking interim findings at this meeting; firstly that young, employed workers are more likely to lose their jobs than their adult counterparts. Young people are also more likely to accept jobs with less favourable working conditions than adults.

The researchers raised concerns about the role gender played in policies related to young people’s labour market transition: for instance, there is no mention of gender mainstreaming in either the European initiative “Youth on the Move” or the European Youth Guarantee Program.

STYLE is being led by the University of Brighton and has 25 research partners. The European Youth Forum, and other stakeholders such as Eurofound and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), is involved in the project through commenting on STYLE’s research and sharing the results.

STYLE plans on delivering conclusions on other related issues such as the integration of youth migrants on the labour market, the main characteristics of youth self-employment and the impact of youth ‘outsiderness’ on participation. STYLE’s final report, ‘An International Handbook on Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe,” will be published at the end of 2017.

For more information on STYLE’s research, visit their homepage here.

Photo courtesy of Matteo Garza (Creative Commons).