The goals of this report are threefold: to build on prior work by Hango and de Broucker, which used Cycles 1 through 3 of the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) to study the impact of educational pathway on very early labour market outcomes when youth in the YITS-B cohort were aged 22 to 24; to measure labour market outcomes over time, since labour market assessment is needed over time to help fully explain the transition to employment and careers of Canadian youth; and to examine the link between education and labour market outcomes across the entire educational spectrum. Four main research questions are addressed in this study: do the effects of education on labour market outcomes change over time; does taking time off after high school matter; does returning to school benefit high school leavers; and how do graduates of post-secondary programs compare to each other.--Document.

This volume brings together a massive body of much-needed research information on a problem of crucial importance to labor economists, policy makers, and society in general: unemployment among the young. The thirteen studies detail the ambiguity and inadequacy of our present standard statistics as applied to youth employment, point out the error in many commonly accepted views, and show that many critically important aspects of this problem are not adequately understood. These studies also supply a significant amount of raw data, furnish a platform for further research and theoretical work in labor economics, and direct attention to promising avenues for future programs.

This report focuses on the transition to full-time employment of young people who do not go to university. The majority of Australiaâs school leavers do not enrol in university, and it is important to better understand the pathways that they follow. The report uses a substantial longitudinal dataset to map the dynamics of the youth labour market, and identify the factors that are important in securing full- time work. The group analysed were part of a national sample of 13,613 young people who were first surveyed in Year 9 in 1995. The report follows them through to 2002 when their average age was 21 and they had been out of school for between four and six years. The study reports on their main education and labour market activities in each year since leaving school. It then analyses the influences of social and demographic factors, school and other educational factors, and initial experiences in the labour market on their post-school activity four years after leaving school. The particular focus is on the factors that influence being in full-time employment four years after leaving school. Separate analyses were performed for males and females as their post-school experiences differ in a number of ways.

This report suggests that efforts to improve the school-to-work transition need to focus on those specific groups who fare worst in their early labor market career--most notably, high school dropouts.

“The education to work transition of young people is key to a successful work-life and to fight youth unemployment. The book provides an impressive outline of the facts and convincing insights of the potential causes. This offers a large and broader audience help to adjust properly to achieve a better life.” Klaus F. Zimmermann, IZA, Bonn, Germany This work points to the youth experience gap as a key concept to explain the meager employment opportunities and earnings many young people face.The transition from education to work remains a long dark tunnel around the world. However, this book shows that there are striking differences between countries: in Germany, the young people of today are no worse off than their adult counterparts, while in Southern European and Eastern European countries they fare 3 through 4 times worse. The current economic and financial crisis has further exacerbated the situation for young people in many advanced economies. Observers are divided as to the optimal design of youth employment policy. Liberalists believe that the market itself should address youth disadvantages. More flexible labor markets should also guarantee greater labor turnover, including temporary work, so as to allow young people to move from one job to the next until they accumulate the work experience they need to become more employable and find the right career. In contrast, other economists oppose approaches focusing on entry flexibility and temporary work, claiming that the former type helps only the most skilled and motivated target groups, while the latter only allows young people to gather generic, not job-specific work experience.

Originally published in 1985, this book brings together diverse perspectives of global policy and experience concerning threatened or high levels of youth unemployment and the measures taken in the countries concerned. From the examples quoted it is obvious that there was little consensus concerning what one is led to believe life after school is about or what one would like life after school to be about, and how these expectations and aspirations may be accommodated.