Page 37 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

exacerbated by the fact that the pace of change within education is slower than
that of the world of work. The principles of participation and active citizenship
have been identified as affecting youth transition (Walther, 2002b), with youth
policy across Europe and beyond incorporating these elements in terms of
community and social, political, educational and, ultimately, employment
participation.

Table 1. Excepted length of school-to-work transitions in selected EU
countries, 1995, 2000 and 2005

Duration in months Duration in months
Country Country
b
c
a
1995 ( ) 2000 ( ) 2005 ( ) 1995 2000 2005
AT 6.2 07.5 16.7 IE 21.0 20.9 16.8
BE 15.5 11.3 14.3 IT 62.4 70.5 51.3
CZ 19.9 19.9 29.3 LU 06.1 16.0 15.0
DK 41.4 30.9 22.0 NL 19.4 11.9 17.2
FI 28.0 56.8 34.2 NO 44.6 30.7 41.8
FR 22.3 17.2 23.0 PL 45.7 45.7 36.3
DE 22.7 29.4 39.2 PT 25.8 19.6 24.8
EL 37.9 32.3 20.5 SK 60.1 60.1 37.2
HU 40.8 30.2 28.5 ES 59.8 28.1 30.1
IS 21.5 26.6 58.0 UK 33.9 30.7 31.8
EU
d
average ( ) 31.7 29.8 29.4
(a) 1993 for Denmark and the UK; 1994 for Luxembourg and Portugal; 1996 for Finland, Germany
and Norway; 1997 for Hungary.
(b) 2001-05 for Czech Republic and Poland; 2002 for Ireland and Slovakia. 2003 for Norway.
(c) 2003 for Denmark and the UK; 2004 for Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal.
(d) Unweighted average.
Source: OECD Secretariat estimates based on the European Union labour force survey.
Education-to-work transitions are also affected by a range of contextual
factors. In each country, influencing variables are different: labour market
conditions, industrial structure and occupational change, population skills levels
and education system structures, employment protection legislation and youth
cohort sizes. Other related issues include the levels of young people leaving
school without a basic education qualification, as well as the nature of skills
acquired in school and their suitability for the world of work. All these factors
influence the length of the average transition period and can contribute to the
differences between European countries in transition times.
The current economic crisis has made the transition from school to work
even more difficult for young jobseekers, in particular early school leavers
(OECD, 2009a). Youth unemployment rates have increased substantially in the

31