The effectiveness of lifelong learning policies on youth employment (original) (raw)

In a context of historical growth of youth unemployment rates due to the global financial crisis, most of the LLL policies adopted by national governments all over Europe have been dominated by the employability agenda. The problem with this agenda is that it assumes that the main causes of youth unemployment are to be found in the education and training system and in the inadequate level of skills of young people, without questioning the economic and labour market policies that led to the youth unemployment crisis. In this sense, LLL policies contribute to turn a structural economic problem into an individual one, usually of an educational nature (Biesta, 2006). These LLL policies construct their target groups as individuals with educational deficits or without the skills demanded by the labour market. Consequently, the policy solutions offered to these individuals are additional work relevant education and training opportunities, preferably delivered through work based learning modes of provision. Most of the LLL policies analysed in this research can be classified in two main groups: apprenticeships and employability training courses. While apprenticeships aim at providing work-based learning to gain industry and/or firm relevant skills, employability courses aim at activating unemployed youth and prepare them for the demands of the world of work. In both cases, there is a strong focus on meeting the skills demanded by employers, which vary across regions due to their different labour market and socioeconomic configurations. Education and training institutions, as well as most LLL policies, are designed and promoted at the national level. Nevertheless, their enactment and implementation takes place at the regional and/or local level. Given the heterogeneity of socioeconomic contexts within countries, the effectiveness of these national policies are likely to be moderated by the regional labour markets and the employment opportunities available to young adults in each context. The aim of this chapter is to analyse and discuss to what extent the effectiveness of national LLL policies on youth employment varies across regions displaying different regional labour market demands and employment opportunities for young adults in vulnerable situations.