Summary
The overall objective of the Thematic Study is to provide evidence for a youth based approach to inclusion and active labour market policies, therefore contributing to the objectives of the European Youth Pact.
Basic understanding of disadvantage in youth transitions:
- Youth transitions are structured have become increasingly de-standardised which calls for a diversification of recognised and supported 'employment pathways' in a holistic, lifecycle perspective;
- As a consequence Social inclusion needs to be seen in a holistic way as the relationship between social structure and individual agency and is broader than labour market integration with subjective motivation as the central aspect of this relationship;
- Disadvantage stands for unequal opportunities and the risk of social exclusion in school-to-work transitions. It is described as the interplay between a structural lack of accessibility, manageability and relevance of transition opportunities and individual lack of resources. Referring to constellations of disadvantage rather than 'problem groups' avoids structural problems becoming individualised.
In the Conclusions the study provides a comprehensive policy model for the sustainable inclusion of disadvantaged young people. A life-cycle perspective on youth transitions and constellations of disadvantage in which structural and individual factors are interlinked require a holistic approach that coordinates different policies within a framework of Integrated Transition Policies or 'Mainstreaming Youth'.
Five key success factors of inclusion and active labour market policies can be identified:
- Funding: Sustainable inclusion measures require sufficient funding to cover all those who need support in their transitions from school to work as well as to provide quality services in terms of sufficient trained staff, accessible premises and allowances as positive incentives.
- Access: Inclusion and active labour market policies are only effective if they actually reach their target groups. In particular, immigrant and ethnic minority youth as well as young women are often under-represented in measures - or they profit less in terms of meaningful outcomes (also: status zer0!).
- Coordination of policies: The complexity of constellations of disadvantage - not only in the case of multiple disadvantage - requires multi-disciplinary and integrated services. On the other hand social integration needs to be understood and addressed in a holistic way embracing issues of both of systemic and subjective relevance (person-centred rather than institutional networks).
- Reflexivity: Flexible policy approaches are needed in order to provide meaningful support, as standardised approaches to counselling, education, training and employment assistance do not necessarily fit all constellations of disadvantage.
- Empowerment: Policies blaming the individual for being in a disadvantaged situation risk undermining motivation, a central resource that the labour market integration of all young people depends upon. Although motivation is clearly an individual characteristic, it is strongly dependent on the structural resources and opportunities available. Motivation requires an initial identification with a goal and then a feeling of control over reaching this goal.
There are number of ways in which the European Commission can enhance this process: the Open Method of Coordination, through specific EU programmes (Leonardo da Vinci, Youth Action) and through the structural funds (especially ESF). Therefore, European policies can influence both the reflexivity and the specific implementation of inclusion and active labour market policies, and innovations in education and training and participatory youth policies.
Youth mainstreaming on the European level: The European Youth Pact can have considerable impact if successful in improving the coordination between the European Employment Strategy, the Social Inclusion Process, the Education and Training and Lifelong Learning Strategy and the White Paper process on Youth.
This will require:
- rebalanced priorities according to a cross-sector understanding of youth policy as outlined in the White Paper;
- to open the Employment Strategy for a youth perspective based on a holistic understanding of youth which extends to funding guidelines and monitoring criteria of the European Social Fund and related programmes; to make access of normally under-represented categories of young people, especially immigrant and ethnic minority youth a hard criteria of funding;
- to include young people and youth organisations both in the design and the evaluation of European policies aimed at young people;
- to include 'hard' policy issues such as education, training, welfare and labour market into the White Paper Process
More about this study at www.iris-egris.de/projekte/disyouth/english.phtml