Regional differences in labour market participation of young people in the European Union

The passage from education to employment is one of a number of 'transitions' experienced by young people. There was a tendency in the 1980s and 1990s for youth transitions to lengthen and become more diverse. It is now the norm for young people to undergo further education/training after the end of compulsory education. As a result, labour market entry has often been delayed, and has become more protracted and complex. Labour market participation is moulded by a number of interrelated factors, including: the demographic and economic context, the organization and structure of the labour market and of education and training systems, the role of the state in shaping labour supply and the organization of the family economy. Using the economic activity rate, together with other measures constructed from the European Labour Force Survey for 1993-7, this paper is concerned with describing, exploring and tentatively explaining labour market participation rates of young people in NUTS 2 regions across the European Union. A range of exploratory data analysis and multivariate regression analysis techniques are employed, and the implications of the findings for understanding current and future regional variations in labour market activity are addressed.