Making youth transitions pay: what role for PES? Wallis Goelen Head of Unit – Employment Services & EURES Danish Presidency Conference, Horsens, April

Issues & challenges Youth unemployment is a structural problem Even in good times rates were high Paradoxically: most educated youth generation ever Recession hit young workers hardest men vs women; ethnic minorities; low educated Youngsters have little or non existant social security coverage – additional problem in engaging with PES Unemployment rate alone understates scale of the problem low participation rate much more severe

Youth (15-24) participation in work force in EU fell as unemployment increased

Youth transitions: what do we know? First transition into labour market hardest yet most critical Recession increased transitions out of employment Reduced probability of moving out of unemployment and back into employment…resulting in: Evidence of youngsters returning to or remaining in education LTU massively on the rise Deskilling of youth will hamper economic recovery

Transitions from one year to the next -Mobility in Europe 2010-

Implications for PES On going modernisation of PES Business Models IMPROVE OUTREACH CAPACITY TRANSITIONS BROKER PARTNERSHIPS PES actions for enhancing youth employment prospects

Conclusions Three fold challenge affecting Prevention, supply and demand Labour market policies must go hand in hand with education and a ‘services first’ philosophy Most comprehensive range of EU policy measures and initiatives to date Member States and PES must chose tools that suit them best