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This report is part of a series that aims to offer policy advice to governments and other higher education stakeholders who would like to learn how well their systems are performing in comparison to others. The series will provide insights on how higher education systems are performing overall and in specific areas; why some systems are performing better than others; and what countries can learn from the experience of others.

Half a million higher education graduates enter the labour market every year in Mexico. While their labour market outcomes are considerably better on average than those of upper secondary education graduates, some higher education graduates face periods of inactivity and unemployment. Many graduates who find work end up being over-qualified or working in the informal sector. This report finds that the Mexican higher education system needs to be better aligned with the labour market to help students develop the skills employers seek. Students need better support to succeed in their higher education studies and develop labour market relevant skills, which will help facilitate their achievement of good outcomes in the workforce. This calls for a comprehensive whole-of-government approach and the involvement of all higher education stakeholders. The report proposes a set of policy recommendations to address these issues and help Mexican higher education graduates achieve better outcomes in the labour market.

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The present report on Sweden is part of a series on 'investing in youth' which builds on the expertise of the OECD on youth employment, social support and skills. This series covers both OECD countries and countries in the process of accession to the OECD, as well as some emerging economies. This report provides a detailed diagnosis of youth policies in the area of education, training, social and employment policies. Its main focus is on disadvantaged youth including those at risk of disengaging.

Edited excerpt from publication.

The contents are as follows: Labour market and educational outcomes of youth in Sweden; Characteristics of youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in Sweden; Benefits receipt and youth poverty in Sweden; Raising school completion rates and providing high-quality professional training in Sweden; Guaranteeing employment or training options for NEETs in Sweden. Show less

This report is part of the OECD programme on youth employment, established following the High Level Conference on Youth Unemployment held in Paris in December 1977. A series of examinations of policies in selected countries was undertaken to improve understanding of national problems and policies in relation to youth employment. The report critically examines the actions and potential strategies of the governments of Denmark, Germany and the United States to address the expanding dimensions of the youth unemployment problem. Part one looks at the broader social and economic questions as they relate to youth unemployment and parts two, three and four review youth employment policies in Denmark, Germany, and the United States respectively. Show less

In 1996, the OECD's Education Committee launched the 14-country 'Thematic review of the transition from initial education to working life'. Within a lifelong learning framework the review had two key goals: to describe how young people's transition to work changed during the 1990s; and to describe the education, labour and social policies, and the interaction between these, that lead to successful youth transitions. This country note provides an overview of the Australian educational system, and the policies that have developed in response to concerns about youth unemployment, social alienation among the young and long-term economic prosperity. The report is divided into four main sections: an outline of several of the key contextual factors shaping young people’s transition; major principles that characterise the reform efforts that have been underway since the mid-1980s in Australia; issues that struck the review team as requiring continuing attention from policy makers and practitioners; and concluding remarks.

The background report for Australia is indexed at TD/TNC 50.91; the final report of the OECD review is indexed at TD/TNC 62.156. Show less

In 1996, the OECD's Education Committee launched the 14-country 'Thematic review of the transition from initial education to working life'. Within a lifelong learning framework the review had two key goals: to describe how young people's transition to work changed during the 1990s; and to describe the education, labour and social policies, and the interaction between these, that lead to successful youth transitions. This background report looks at transitions in the Czech Republic, set within the context of the economic, social and political transformation that has occurred since the fall of the Socialist regime in 1989. The report is divided into sections as follows: (1) Contextual and institutional factors; (2) Clarification of perceptions; (3) Concerns about transition processes and outcomes; (4) Changes of expectations and objectives; and (5) Policy for the transition process.

The country note for the Czech Republic is indexed at TD/TNC 77.195; the final report of the OECD review is indexed at TD/TNC 62.156. Show less

Previous OECD and EU work has shown that even native-born children with immigrant parents face persistent disadvantage in the education system, the school-to-work transition, and the labour market. To which degree are these linked with their immigration background, i.e. with the issues faced by their parents? This publication includes cross-country comparative work and provides new insights on the complex issue of the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage for native-born children of immigrants. Complementing the report are seven in-depth country case studies. The countries and regions covered in this publication are Austria, the European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, North America and Sweden.

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This brief paper notes that one-third of the population of OECD countries hold an upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) qualification as their highest educational attainment, and it is estimated that nearly half will graduate from a VET programme in their lifetime. However, keeping up with technology developments in industry can be a costly endeavour, although partnering with employers can help to spread the cost of VET programmes. While vocational qualifications offer young people a good chance of finding employment, they are sometimes seen as a second-class choice and limit their value in the labour market overall. Countries need to ensure their vocational programmes offer all students the basic skills they need in the labour market and in life, as well as the opportunity to progress on to tertiary education if they wish.

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The completion of upper secondary education marks the minimum threshold for successful labour market entry and continued employability. Having an upper secondary qualification is the best insurance against the risk of unemployment. This is particularly marked in countries with well-developed vocational education and training (VET) systems. Upper secondary graduates still have many social and economic advantages compared to the less qualified. However, most individuals need to go beyond upper secondary education in order to reap the higher levels of financial reward their country's labour market has to offer.

In most OECD countries, the large majority of adults had at least an upper secondary qualification in 2013, making the completion of upper secondary education the minimum threshold for successful labour market entry and continued employability or the pursuit of further education. Young people who left school before completing upper secondary education face difficulty in the labour market but also have particularly low cognitive skills compared with upper secondary graduates. Those aged 15-29 who left school before completing upper secondary education are twice as likely to have low numeracy scores than those with an upper secondary education. On average across OECD countries, the unemployment rate among 15-29 year-olds not in education is 13 percentage points lower among those with an upper secondary education than for those without. Having a tertiary qualification reduces unemployment rates by a further five percentage points.

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Better skills policies help build economic resilience, boost employment and reinforce social cohesion. The OECD skills strategy provides countries with a framework to analyse their skills strengths and challenges. Each OECD skills strategy diagnostic report reflects a set of skills challenges identified by broad stakeholder engagement and OECD comparative evidence while offering concrete examples of how other countries have tackled similar skills challenges.

These reports tackle questions such as: How can countries maximise their skills potential? How can they improve their performance in developing relevant skills, activating skills supply and using skills effectively? What is the benefit of a whole-of-government approach to skills? How can governments build stronger partnerships with employers, trade unions, teachers and students to deliver better skills outcomes? OECD skills strategy diagnostic reports provide new insights into these questions and help identify the core components of successful skills strategies. This report [for Peru] is part of the OECD's ongoing work on building effective national skills strategies.

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In 1996, the OECD's Education Committee launched the 14-country 'Thematic review of the transition from initial education to working life'. Within a lifelong learning framework, the review had two key goals: to describe how young people's transition to work changed during the 1990s; and to describe the education, labour and social policies, and the interaction between these, that lead to successful youth transitions. Participating countries prepared a background report describing the general context of youth transitions and noting key policy concerns. The review team that visited each country prepared a country note to summarise its observations and suggestions. This background report for Norway contains: institutional and contextual background to the transition of young people into working life; an explanation of the transitions from lower and upper secondary education and from higher education to working life; concerns about and policy responses to transitions; the changing expectations and objectives of the various participants in transition policy formation; and the monitoring and research being undertaken in the area of transitions.

The country note for Norway is indexed at TD/TNC 77.102. The final report of the OECD review is indexed at TD/TNC 62.156. Show less