Family background and youth labour market outcomes across Europe

The paper investigates the intergenerational transmission of worklessness in a cross-country comparative analysis. Using the 2011 EU-SILC ad-hoc module on intergenerational transmission of disadvantages, we study the extent to which family background affects youth labour market outcomes. We focus on young people aged 25-34. The empirical findings provide evidence of an intergenerational persistence of worklessness and the positive role of parents’ employment in explaining youth labour market outcomes. Also gender differences with respect to the influence of the family of origin are relevant. Mothers’ working condition during adolescence affects systematically, and to a large extent, their daughters’ probability of being employed, while fathers’ employment generally increases their sons’ probability of being in employment. Empirical evidence suggests that policies should pay attention to both youth and parental worklessness.