Transitions from Education to Work in Europe

The Integration of Youth into EU Labour Markets

Edited by Walter Müller and Markus Gangl

Inter-disciplinary approach to topic (encompassing sociology, economics, eduaction)
Comparative focus on EU countries
Based on new, empirical evidence

Transitions from Education to Work in Europe

The Integration of Youth into EU Labour Markets

Edited by Walter Müller and Markus Gangl

Description

European unification represents major challenges to national institutional frameworks as well as significant pressures for institutional convergence. So far, labor markets have actually seen relatively little convergence, and national institutions have remained highly distinct. Against this background, the book provides an encompassing comparative analysis of school-to-work transitions in EU member states. It shows how differences in both European education and training systems, as well as labour market institutions, generated significant variation in the experiences of young people entering European labour markets during the 1990s.

This book compiles an integrated series of comparative empirical analyses of education-to-work transitions across the EU by drawing on the European Labour Force Surveys. Individual chapters describe the educational background of young people entering the labor market, address the scope of educational expansion in recent decades, and chart basic structures of transition processes in European labor markets. Chapters not only examine the role of education for successful labor market integration, but also the impact of macroeconomic, structural, and institutional factors on young people's chances of avoiding unemployment and attaining employment in occupations appropriate to their education and training. From these analyses it becomes apparent that the structure of education and training systems is the key institutional factor behind successful youth labour market integration. At the level of intermediate skills, dual systems of training have retained their advantages in terms of reduced youth unemployment. High levels of education still constitute a key asset, for, despite significant educational expansion in recent decades, devaluation trends have been limited. As youth labor markets are found to be particularly responsive to macroeconomic conditions, however, macroeconomic stability turns out to be an equally important predicament to successful youth labour market integration, in particular among those with low levels of education.

Transitions from Education to Work in Europe

The Integration of Youth into EU Labour Markets

Edited by Walter Müller and Markus Gangl

Preface, Walter Müller and Markus Gangl
1. The Transition from School to Work: A European Perspective, Walter Müller and Markus Gangl
2. Educational Attainment in the European Union: Recent Trends in Qualification Patterns, Walter Müller and Maarten Wolbers
3. Young People and New Entrants in European Labour Markets: The Timing of Gradual Integration, Thomas Couppié and Michèle Mansuy
4. The Structure of Labour Market Entry in Europe: A Typological Analysis, Markus Gangl
5. Learning and Working: Double Statuses in Youth Transitions, Maarten Wolbers
6. Returns to Education in Context: Individual Education and Transition Outcomes in Euopean Labour Markets, Markus Gangl
7. The Integration of Young People into the Labour Market: The Role of Training Systems and Labour Market Regulation, Rolf van der Velden and Maarten Wolbers
8. Transition Pathways in Italy and Spain: Different Patterns, Similar Vulnerability?, Cristina Iannelli and Asunción Soro-Bonmatí
9. Explaining Change in Early Career Outcomes: Labour Market Conditions, Educational Expansion, and Youth Cohort Sizes, Markus Gangl
10. Conclusions: Explaining Cross-National Differences in School-to-Work Transitions, Markus Gangl, Walter Müller, and David Raffe
Methodological Index: Using the European Labour Force Survey for Transition Research, Markus Gangl
Bibliography

Transitions from Education to Work in Europe

The Integration of Youth into EU Labour Markets

Edited by Walter Müller and Markus Gangl

Author Information

Contributors:

Thomas Couppié, CEREQ
Markus Gangl, Social Science Research Centre, Berlin
Cristina Iannelli, University of Edinburgh
Walter Müller, University of Mannheim
Michèle Mansuy, INSEE
David Raffe, University of Edinburgh
Asunción Soro-Bonmatí, University of Alicante
Rolf van der Velden, Maastricht University
Maarten Wolbers, Maastricht University