The Educational Level as a risk Factor for Youth Exclusion from the Labour Market

Against the framework of multiplied and diversified challenges to sustainable development, optimizing the young people insertion into the labour market stands out as an imperative as well as a promising tool for tackling demographic ageing, societal and individual risks as well as the sustainability of economic and social growth. Along the last years daunted by economic crisis, the youth unemployment rates have soared up to over 30% and NEET rates (for 25-29 age interval) to over 25% in a quarter of the EU countries. The average European values for these indicators remain high, threatening to transform the “lost generation” metaphor into reality. Considering extremely high medium and long term costs - to both the individual and the society - associated to the youth exclusion from the labour market, based on a thorough literature review and statistic analysis, this paper aims to provide a concise picture over the phenomenon of youth exclusion on the Romanian labour market and to assess the impact of the educational level, as one of the main risk factors, on the structure and size of the vulnerable group. Considering best practice examples in other countries, the paper ends with presenting main policy directions for tackling this important societal risk.