National Studies on Youth Unemployment

Dear Colleagues,

During economic downturns, young people are more prone to employment insecurities. They face more difficulties in finding a job not only because they are less established in the labour market, but also because they are less protected by labour law. In other words, young people are the last in, first out and are more likely to find themselves in precarious employment conditions. The vulnerability of young people has been observed again during the COVID pandemic, which shocked the global labour market, and many workers around the world have lost their income sources. The crisis has not affected everyone to the same extent: young people have been affected in far greater numbers. Furthermore, lower-income countries have experienced greater effects, and women have been at greater risk of becoming unemployed than men. Given the adverse impacts of unemployment, policy interventions to help the unemployed youth return to work are high on the political agendas of many countries.

This Special Issue focuses on the causes and consequences of youth unemployment at both the individual and societal level.  We invite researchers from across disciplines and countries to contribute to the understanding of youth employment in different institutional contexts and to elucidate how we can design a better environment to reduce the precarious employment conditions for young people and improve their labour market opportunities. Any studies focusing on youth employment either in a single country or across national contexts, either using qualitative or quantitative methods, are welcome. 

Dr. Lulu Shi
Dr. Senhu Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• youth unemployment across national contexts
• youth NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training)
• youth unemployment and mental health
• youth precarious employment
• education and youth unemployment
• gender and youth unemployment
• race, migration and youth unemployment
• family background and youth unemployment
• social capital and youth unemployment
• youth unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs)
• transition from unemployment to employment