Youth Employment : A Contradiction in Terms

This is an overview of current available information and statistics on youth employment, unemployment and training in the UK.

The book includes case studies and powerful policy recommendations.

Its publication is timed to link with The Children's Society's corporate advertising campaign. This report sets out the specific nature of youth unemployment; reviews the available evidence on why the youth unemployment rate has escalated so dramatically; explores the detrimental impact that unemployment and poor job opportunities have on young people's psychological well-being; critically analyzes the various counter strategies tried to date; and examines a range of proposed solutions to the problem and outlines more successful, preventative systems in other countries. "Youth employment" concludes with a series of challenges aimed at improving the quality, accessibility and appropriacy of education and training programmes, and removing the barriers which needlessly exclude some young people from the labour market.