Country differences

There are significant structural differences among European countries in young people's participation in the labour market. The reason is a combination of institutional factors (e.g. formal apprenticeship schemes), cultural determinants, whether there is a job market for students, the role of professional training, etc. Differences in the national systems of education and training also play a major role.

It is possible to create some country groups to identify common features. The first parameter for country grouping is the degree to which those in education are simultaneously on the labour market. A second parameter is the level of youth unemployment, measured in terms of the youth unemployment ratio .

Group 1. There is a first group of countries in which very few students are employed or unemployed. For countries in this group, the overlap between the labour market and education is very small. This could be the case e.g. if the young complete their studies before looking for a first job, and there are only few part-time or summer jobs for students. Countries in this group are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia.

Group 2. A second group of countries has two features: a) a moderate overlap between education and the labour market and b) youth unemployment levels around the EU average. This group includes Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Poland.

Those in education while employed correspond to three broad types of situation: they are either employed while attending professional training, or apprentices or paid trainees (which are conventionally considered as employed and in education), or they are students who work part-time.

Group 3. A third group of countries features: a) a moderate overlap between education and labour market (i.e. same as group 2); b) a very high level of youth unemployment. Countries in this group are Greece, Spain, Portugal and to some extent Ireland. These are some of the countries worst hit by the crisis.

Group 4. A fourth group displays: a) high to very high involvement of students in the labour market; b) average level of unemployment. These are: Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, and, to a lower extent, Slovenia. These are countries with a long-standing tradition of students doing part-time or summer jobs (Nordic countries have strong seasonal unemployment among students as the season for summer jobs opens. Furthermore, some countries, e.g. the Netherlands, have dual study programmes in specific fields of tertiary education that include practical work phases.

In this group of countries, young people start to look for jobs at a very early age, and as a result there is sizeable unemployment among students at 15 to 17 years of age. This declines steadily at higher ages, but is counterbalanced by a rise in unemployment among those not in education.

Group 5. There is a final group of countries with high levels of employment among those in education (same as group 4) but almost no unemployment among those in education. Germany and Austria are in this group. They have established apprenticeships systems or vocational training in secondary education. These factors explain the high number of young people who are both in education and employed.