Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion

The reinforced Youth Guarantee

What is the reinforced Youth Guarantee?

The reinforced Youth Guarantee is a commitment by all Member States to ensure that all young people under the age of 30 receive a good quality offer of

  • employment
  • continued education
  • apprenticeship
  • traineeship

within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education.

All EU countries have committed to the implementation of the reinforced Youth Guarantee in a Council Recommendation of October 2020. The Recommendation is based on a Commission proposal, part of the Youth Employment Support package.

What has been achieved so far?

The Youth Guarantee has created opportunities for young people and acted as a powerful driver for structural reforms and innovation. As a result, the majority of public employment services (PES) have improved and expanded their services for young people.

In about seven years’ time, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were approximately 1.7 million fewer young people neither in employment nor in education or training (NEETs) across the EU. Youth unemployment had dropped to a record low of 14.9% by February 2020, mere weeks before pandemic-related lockdowns were put in place across the EU.

Though an improving macroeconomic context certainly played a role, evidence suggests that the Youth Guarantee had a major transformative effect. Over 24 million young people who were once registered in Youth Guarantee schemes started an offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeships and traineeships.

National Youth Guarantee implementation plans

How has the Youth Guarantee been reinforced?

As the unprecedented crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect young people disproportionally, there is overwhelming agreement on the fact that we need to act fast. The reinforced Youth Guarantee steps up the comprehensive job support available to young people across the EU, now reaching out to a broader target group of 15 to 29 year-olds.

It caters for the millions of youth at risk of unemployment unable to enter today’s labour market, without losing sight of activating the hardest-to-reach who may have been facing multiple obstacles for years. The reinforced Youth Guarantee does all this through tailored, individualised approaches; providing young people with the appropriate levels of guidance and helping them find crash courses or boot camps if upskilling proves to be necessary.

Such approaches take into account local labour market intelligence shaped by COVID-19 ramifications, acknowledging also the opportunities provided by the accelerating digital and green transitions.

EU support

The Recommendation is backed up by significant EU financing under NextGenerationEU and the long-term EU budget.

The EU provides policy support and mutual learning activities to help Member States strengthen the infrastructure and measures for the reinforced Youth Guarantee. The EU also monitors progress across Member States. 

More on EU support

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