The book Youth Work in Transition: Inequalities, Mobility and Policy in Europe talks about the future of Europe. It specifically investigates the relationship between youths and the labour market in a Europe that in the last ten years has experienced the most difficult economic crisis since the Second World War.
From an etymological point of view, the word “transition” means passing between two conditions, two ways of living. The term “crisis” implies, among other things, separation. In this case, it can be understood in its broad sense as a separation from the future and therefore a crisis of trust in the future.
The transitions that this volume examines are precisely the problematic life transitions experienced by young people (i.e. school to work, job to job, job to unemployment, family of origin to new family or vice versa), which are necessarily affected by labour market conditions.
This well-edited book deals with a complex problem in a complex way because it analyses the problem of the youth condition, fundamentally characterized by uncertainty, and also takes into account its many facets (career insecurity, poorly paid labour, low protection legislation, high flexibility, unemployment and inequality).
It is a careful study of the phenomenon through innovative analyses in which multiple factors are taken into consideration, in addition to those already consolidated in the literature, such as level of education and institutions.
The multiplicity of the topics addressed, also in terms of their different territorial dimensions, makes this book a valuable contribution to understanding the crisis that Europe has experienced and to outlining its future prospects. Published as part of the STYLE project – Strategic Transition for Youth Labour in Europe – the volume brings together the contributions of research organizations from 19 countries, 15 research partners and multiple institutions.
In this way, it gives due consideration to the complexity and diversity of Europe, perhaps the continent’s greatest wealth. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the results published in the volume were first widely discussed and debated in many international conferences prior to their publication.
The book is structured into four parts. The first part, which deals with youth transition to work, describes how difficult this passage can be and how it has become increasingly more problematic with the recent crisis. It may be said that, as far as the labour market is concerned, young people are penalised as both insiders and as outsiders. As the former, the younger generation are at a disadvantage because their greatest chances of finding employment reside in the temporary job market, which offers unstable, low skilled, poorly paid employment. In addition, this structural feature of the labour market has worsened during the crisis because employers are less likely to hire young workers. As outsiders, they are also penalised because they risk being unemployed for longer periods and have greater difficulty accessing unemployment benefits compared to their older counterparts.
The second part of this volume is mainly dedicated to the important role of the family. The difficulties that young people face in the labour market inevitably reflect on family choices, such as leaving home and starting a new family. One of the book’s merits is that it highlights the importance of this fundamental aspect for society and for its future, dedicating the greatest number of contributions to it (six chapters). Incidentally, Aristotle’s “Politics” begins by analysing the role of the family in society.
These chapters in part two provide an interesting and fundamental insight into the workings of the labour market, such as the difficulties women workers encounter compared to male employees as a result of their greater tendency to seek jobs with temporary contracts, low wages and low security. These factors, in turn, affect the future employment of their offspring because the chances of finding employment for a young person seem to be greater if their mother has an occupation.
Another interesting finding is how the youngest of the poorest families has a lower probability of accessing more qualified jobs, a phenomenon which poses a problem of social justice for policy makers. But most significantly, the family plays an important role as a social institution in which resources are redistributed among its members, especially in times of economic crisis.
A significant aspect which is highlighted in the third part of this volume is the increase in job mobility within Europe. The scarce mobility of labour has always been the differentiating element between the US and European markets. This movement predominantly affects the younger generation and the most qualified jobs and the South North director. Even so, conditions of inequality and social justice appear to prevail. Migrant workers, compared to natives, for instance, have a greater chance of being unemployed. Furthermore, the country of origin may be a discriminating factor for the type of work available to younger migrants. The analysis of employment among returning migrants which the researchers have carried out for Estonia and Slovakia is particularly interesting.
The fourth part of this work deals with other important aspects of the labour market which may affect the future of the younger generation: the group classified as NEETs (Neither in Employment or Education in Training), the phenomenon of over-education, ethnic and gender differences, the young self-employed class and young attitudes and the role of trade unions. These factors are all heterogeneous in nature and a greater understanding of their complexity is therefore necessary for labour market policy implementation. For example, the NEETs category may comprise, among others, long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, discouraged worker? In a similar vein, the rate of over-education changes between countries, age cohorts and over time. The probability of being employed after a period of unemployment varies across ethnic groups. Finally, self-employment may include both people who work as sole traders and also business founders.
In conclusion, this volume is a valuable, well thought out collection of contributions for understanding the dynamics of the youth labour market in Europe in the hope of a better future. The eleven children born to the STYLE researchers are already a first important sign of promise, and if there is hope, there is a future.
