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This report provides a detailed diagnosis of the youth labour market and education system in Latvia from an international comparative perspective, and offers tailored recommendations to help improve school-to-work transitions. It also provides an opportunity for other countries to learn from the innovative measures that Latvia has taken to strengthen the skills of youth and their employment outcomes, notably through the implementation of a Youth Guarantee. The contents are: Executive summary; Assessment and policy options; Youth labour market outcomes in Latvia; Characteristics of youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in Latvia; Benefits receipt and youth poverty in Latvia; Raising school completion rates and providing high-quality professional training in Latvia; Guaranteeing employment or training options for NEETs in Latvia.

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This document provides an update on the use of job retention (JR) schemes during the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 crisis until the end of 2021 and takes stock of the different strategies employed by OECD governments to adjust them as the crisis evolved. It provides three key insights. First, since reaching a peak of 20 per cent of employment in April/May 2020 on average across OECD countries, the use of JR support has declined to 1.3 per cent in November/December 2021. Second, countries have used different approaches to adjust temporary JR provisions during the course of the crisis, with some phasing them out, some providing increasingly targeted support and others keeping temporary measures unchanged. Third, JR schemes have tended to become more targeted by directing support towards jobs in firms that had been affected most by the pandemic, but remained viable in the medium term. A majority of countries now require co‑financing by firms for hours not worked under these schemes in contrast to the start of the crisis when most countries exempted firms from subsidising the costs associated with hours not worked.

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This paper investigates the effects of the labor market experience of high school dropouts four years after leaving school by sending fictitious resumes to real job postings in France. Compared to those who have stayed unemployed since leaving school, the callback rate is not raised for those with employment experience, whether it is subsidized or non-subsidized, in the market or non-market sector, if there is no training accompanied by skill certification. In particular, [the authors] find no stigma effect associated with subsidized or non-market sector work experience. Moreover, training accompanied by skill certification improves youth prospects only when the local unemployment rate is sufficiently low, which occurs in one fifth of the commuting zones only.

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Youth unemployment is notoriously high in France, in particular for the low-skilled. Within the [European Union] EU, only the crisis countries of Southern Europe fare worse. This report delivered to the French Council of Economic Analysis analyzes the causes and consequences of this alarming trend. In addition, drawing on the available evidence on various measures that could improve the current situation, concrete policy proposals are derived that cover the areas of vocational education, second chance programs, job search assistance, income support, employment subsidies and dismissal protection.

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This paper presents an overview of the situation of youth in OECD countries since the onset of the financial crisis focusing primarily on describing the characteristics and living conditions of young [not in employment, education or training] NEETs. It also provides data on the availability, coverage and effectiveness of income-support policies for young people, and summarises available evidence on the impact of interventions that aim at improving the social, education and employment situation of the most disadvantaged youth. Due to the paper's explicit focus on the hardest-to-place, most disadvantaged youth, the range of policies covered is broader than in earlier studies on the same topic, including various social benefits and in-kind services targeted at this group. The paper shows that NEET rates have not yet recovered from the crisis. There are large differences in youth unemployment and inactivity across countries, and these differences were further exacerbated by the recession. Reducing NEET rates is a great challenge for governments, as youth who remain jobless for long periods typically come from more disadvantaged backgrounds, have low levels of educational attainment, and are in many cases inactive. There is substantial evidence, however, that even the most disadvantaged youth can benefit from a variety of targeted interventions, including for instance special education programmes and mentoring.

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France and Germany are two polar cases in the European debate about rising youth unemployment. Similar to what can be observed in Southern European countries, a 'lost generation' may arise in France. In stark contrast, youth unemployment has been on continuous decline in Germany for many years, hardly affected by the Great Recession. This paper analyzes the diametrically opposed developments in the two countries to derive policy lessons. As the fundamental differences in youth unemployment are primarily resulting from structural differences in labor policy and in the (vocational) education system, any short-term oriented policies can only have temporary effects. Ultimately, the youth unemployment disease in France and in other European countries has to be cured with structural reforms.

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Short-time work compensation aims at reducing lay-offs by allowing employers to temporarily reduce hours worked while compensating workers for the induced loss of income. These programs are now widespread in the OECD countries, notably following the 2008-2009 crisis. This paper discusses the efficiency of this type of policy and investigates its impact on unemployment and employment. There is some evidence that short-time compensation programs stabilize permanent employment and reduce unemployment during downturns. All in all, it seems that short-time work programs used in the recent downturn had significant beneficial effects. This suggests that countries which do not have short-time compensation programs could benefit from their introduction. But short-time compensation programs can also induce inefficient reductions in working hours and reduce the prospects of outsiders if used too intensively. Thus, the design of short-time compensation programs should include an experience-rating component.

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Many working-age individuals, around 35% according to this paper, in the OECD area do not have a job. However, unemployment is only part of the problem as the majority of working-age individuals who are not in work are inactive in the labour market. The purpose of this report is to look at how ‘activation’ strategies used to help the unemployed into employment can be extended to the inactive with a view to promoting transitions to work. Activation includes both the provision of employment services and obligations on individuals who are able to work to look for jobs and take part in programs. The report focuses on active labour market programs (ALMPs) targeted on the inactive, such as those with recognised caring/disability constraints. The report suggests that requiring non-employment benefit recipients with remaining work capacity to be available for work at least on a part-time basis can be effective. Also, effective placement techniques for the inactive groups to be ‘activated’ will often be similar to those used for the unemployed although in some cases, there is a need for relatively specialised employment-related services. Financial incentives such as in-work bonuses can also help promote transitions to work, but would need to be adapted to the situation of particular groups in the labour market. Show less