http://www.ippr.org/events/54/9227/tackling-youth-unemployment-lessons-from-europe

Tackling youth unemployment: lessons from Europe

While policymakers debate the implications of levels of growth and debt across Europe, the unsung difference between how European countries have fared since the downturn is unemployment, and particularly youth unemployment. Although the proportion of unemployed young people is most alarming in the Mediterranean states, record levels of youth unemployment in the UK contrast sharply with the experiences of other northern European countries such as Germany, where youth unemployment has actually fallen since the economic downturn.

Thursday 12 July 2012, 11:00 to 13:00
IPPR, 4th Floor, 14 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF

These differences are partly, but not only a reflection of different levels of economic resilience and overall employment rates. They also reflect systemic differences in how ‘youth friendly’ the labour market is in different countries, and in the institutional support available for young people’s transitions into work. In the UK the headline-grabbing increases since the recession mask deeper, structural problems that have seen young people’s transitions from school to work become longer and riskier since the 1980s. While many European countries have experienced similar seismic shifts in the nature of the economy, the impact on young people’s employment prospects has varied considerably in times of both boom and bust.

This event explores the reasons for variations in youth unemployment across Europe, offering new insights and ideas for UK policy. Drawing on a new briefing paper from IPPR in partnership with the TUC and the CIPD, the event will explore the extent to which different ‘systems’ support the school to work transition, bringing key European stakeholders and policymakers to discuss different policy approaches and political debates across the continent.

• Vocational education and training systems in Europe and the school to work transition
  Professor Chris Winch, Kings College London

• Youth unemployment across Europe: the impact of the recession and potential solutions
  Christiane Westphal, Policy Coordinator, Youth Employment, Entrepreneurship and Micro-Finances at the European Commission

• Creating strong pathways into work: the German dual system
  TBC, IG Metall

• The role of employers in tackling youth unemployment
  Robert Plummer, Adviser, Social Affairs, BusinessEurope

If you would like to attend please RSVP to events with ‘youth unemployment’ in the title.

Paul Champion
www.paulchampionuk.com
www.apprenticeshipblog.com

📱: 07540 704920

Twitter: @blogapprentice
Skype: paulchampion31