Youth Labor in Transition. Inequalities, Mobility, and Policies in Europe

Exacerbated by the Great Recession, youth transitions to employment and adulthood have become increasingly protracted, precarious, and differentiated by gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Youth Labor in Transition examines young people's integration into employment, alongside the decisions and consequences of migrating to find work and later returning home. The authors identify key challenges for the future concerning overeducation, self-employment, and ethnicity, as well values and attitudes of young people and how they identify with trade unions. Collectively, the authors illustrate the need to encompass a wider understanding of youth employment and job insecurity by including an analysis of economic production and how it relates to social reproduction of labor if policy intervention is to be effective. The mapping and extensive analysis in this book are the result of a three-and-a-half year, European Union-funded research project ("STYLE"-Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe) coordinated by the volume editors. With an overall budget of just under $e5 million and involving 25 research partners; an international advisory network and local advisory boards of employers, unions, policymakers; and non-governmental organizations from over 20 European countries, STYLE is one of the largest European Commission-funded research projects to exist on this topic.