Module 7
Consequences of European youth employment policy
One of the EU’s key strategic objectives focuses on youth issues and in particular on quality youth work. Thus, by focusing on quality work for young people, the EU through its policies guarantees an easily accessible labour market with equal opportunities for all young people. According to the EU, its policies on quality youth work have the following consequences for youth:
- Fair working conditions and labour rights
- Social protection– Young workers will feel safe in their working environment, without social, racial, educational, etc. discrimination against them
- Healthcare– there will be full health coverage and care for new workers.
- Equal job opportunities – there will be equal opportunities for all workers in the labour market, based on meritocracy
- support in skills development – Providing young people with practical experience for a smooth transition from practical training to the labour market
- recognition of the skills acquired through volunteering – formal recognition and validation of the qualifications obtained
- the voice of youth is heard – active participation of young people in the development, implementation and evaluation of EU policies
- Updating youth information and knowledge – supporting young people to adapt to changes such as technology and be up to date with the demands of the times
Self - assessment
In this quiz answer the questions from knowledge and experiences you already have without having read the module, so that at the end you can compare the knowledge you had and the knowledge you gained after reading the module.
Module contents
This module is divided into 3 sections
1.Section 1: EU goals for a quality youth-oriented working environment
2.Section 2: The impact of EU strategic objectives on youth
3.Section 3: Innovation in youth work as a key objective of the EU and its projects
4.How the youthimpact+ tool works
Sources and links of the module
❖https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2018:456:FULL
❖https://pjp- eu.coe.int/documents/42128013/101043895/European+youth+work+policy+goals+analy sed-July2021.pdf/9db78437-5858-b35c-1523-ec41b083d837
❖https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=yur9acPEr_Y&embeds_euri=http s%3A%2F%2Fpowerpoint.officeapps.live.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&featu re=emb_title
❖https://youth.europa.eu/strategy/european-youth-goals_en
Overview
Title: EU goals for a quality youth- oriented working environment
Format: online
Duration: 50 min
Specifics: learners will use their smartphones
At the end of the module the learner will have a complete picture of the EU’s strategic objectives, which are analysed in the slides.
This section refers to the EU’s strategic plan to support youth in the labour market. It then details the 8 categories where the EU will provide support.
During the specific training module the trainer will present the module in detail, solve questions and discuss with the learners everything that was presented in the module.
Section 1: EU goals for a quality youth-oriented working environment
Over the last 10 years, the issue of youth employment has been at the centre of political debates in both the EU and the Council of Europe. It has been identified that the area of work, particularly for young people, needs more support, recognition and regulation. Thus, the EU and the Council of Europe have set the following objectives for the implementation of the policy to support young workers:
1.Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council on the Framework for establishing a European Youth Work Agenda.
2.Final Declaration of the 3rd European Youth Work Convention
3.Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation on Youth Work.
4.The EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and
5.The Council of Europe youth sector strategy 2030.
Section 1: EU goals for a quality youth- oriented working environment
The objectives mentioned in the above slide are grouped into 8 categories, covering various aspects related to youth work:
- Quality youth work
- Youth workers: learning and cooperating
- Youth work: understood and recognised
- Innovative, adaptive and sustainable youth work
- Developing youth work
- Youth work for youth
- Core values
- Youth policy
Quality Youth Work
This particular sub-category of the objectives set by the EU is very important in general and in particular from the COVID-19 period onwards. A key condition for young people to have a quality working life is to provide workers with the right structures and resources. For example, modern facilities and technical equipment. Another prerequisite is that young people are given the opportunities and incentives to change.
- The EU is moving towards building a framework for quality work, in particular:
❖Improving the quality of youth work
❖standard setting
❖relevant co-managed bodies of the Council of Europe youth sector, which should develop programmes of activities and, where appropriate, submit proposals for standards to the Committee of Ministers.
Youth workers: learning and cooperating
This thematic area concerns both young paid and voluntary youth workers. One thing is for sure, the workers come from different levels of education and expertise and that is why the EU aims to train and equip them well.This will have the effect of bringing young people to a common level of knowledge, so as to avoid discrimination between them.
Youth work: understood and recognised
This issue is closely linked to the previous objective (learning and cooperating), as young people should be able to apply the theoretical knowledge they acquire in practice. In other words, it is important for young people to know how to use the knowledge they have.
Innovative, adaptive and sustainable youth work
In modern times, given the crises that the EU faces from time to time, such as the financial crisis of 2008 and the health crisis of 2020 (COVID-19), youth employment should not be taken for granted. Instead, it should follow national, European and global trends. Moreover, policy makers should be in constant interaction and communication with youth in order to create resilient work structures based on the new technologies and demands of the times.
Specifically: Improving smart youth work while putting greater focus on developing digital competences.
- Making youth work greener.
- Supporting youth empowerment through quality, innovation and recognition of youth work.
Developing youth work
All youth employment targets set by the EU to have a positive impact on youth development should be based on a youth employment development plan.
The following should be taken into account:
- The needs of young people
- Relevant organisations and people involved in youth work should be actively involved in the development of this strategy.
- It is important to monitor current labour market trends and assess the challenges.
Youth work for youth
- We must not forget! Young people themselves are at the heart of the EU’s youth employment strategy. Thus, particular attention is given to young people from vulnerable social groups. One of the main youth work goals is to create a safe environment and provide positive experiences for youth through guiding their personal and social development.
“Equal access to work with no one left behind”
Core values
- Youth work is value driven. Values are embedded into all principles and illustrated through various forms of youth work practice.
- Through youth work, young people are motivated to become active participants in their communities, shaping them according to ethical values such as human rights, intercultural learning and dialogue, peace/non-violence and gender equality.
- Agents of solidarity
- Help develop an understanding of European values and tolerance
- Offer new opportunities for youth to express solidarity
Youth Employment in the EU: MEPs push for innovative approaches (video - youtube)
Overview
Title: The impact of EU strategic objectives on youth
Format: online
Duration: 50 min
Specifics: In this module learners will need a mobile phone or tablet or a computer
This section introduces the YouthImpact+ project and analyses the impact of this project on youth at work.
Through a brief analysis, the trainee will be informed about the priorities set by this project and will see that the YouthImpact+ project is the practical implementation of the European priorities for youth work.
Brief analysis of the YouthImpact+ project (objectives, analysis of the digital tool).
Analysis of the impact of the EU strategy and the project on youth.
Identifying common priorities between the EU and the YouthImpact+ project.
During the specific training module the trainer will present the module in detail, solve questions and discuss with the learners everything that was presented in the module.
Section 2: How the EU youth work strategy is linked to the YouthImpact project
This project is a practical implementation of all the strategic objectives mentioned above. Through the results produced by this project, impact on youth is achieved, as cooperation between youth-related organisations and people working on youth issues is promoted. The YouthImpact+ project also promotes cooperation between different countries, so that the objectives set by the EU are also disseminated at national level. This is very important because:
The impact of EU strategic objectives on youth
❖By creating conditions for cooperation between countries, this project gives young people a practical understanding that EU support is not only limited to the EU framework but also spreads to the national level.
❖States are developing cooperative relations with each other and there is a strong sens e of unity and teamwork.
❖The issue of youth work is a common issue, it concerns everyone and that means that support for young people will be given by everyone, so that it is more effective.
Priorities set by the YouthImpact+ project for the implementation of EU youth policies.
- Enhance recognition of Youth Work through European funded programmes across Europe at national and EU level
- Improve sectoral cooperation, including through the EU Youth Coordinator’s mandate, to give youth a voice in shaping EU policies
- Support the capacity building of youth workers and youth work practices
- Reinforce links between policy, research and practice and promote better knowledge about the situation of young people and youth policies
Let's look at the priorities in more detail
1st priority: Enhance recognition of Youth Work through European funded programmes across Europe at national and EU level
One of the key strategic objectives of the EU, as mentioned before, is to increase and maintain the quality of work for young people. According to the EU, in order to realise this objective, investments are needed that will practically support youth to find jobs, to do internships and to be properly trained to be productive. In addition, by funding all those transnational partnerships that aim to support youth, the EU also gives the opportunity to countries that do not have high economic growth to help young workers who may be looking for a job and cannot find one or are not well informed.
Improve sectoral cooperation, including through the EU Youth Coordinator's mandate, to give youth a voice in shaping EU policies
- It is a fact that in recent years there has been a significant distancing of young people from the institutions, policies and values that the EU stands for. This is a consequence of the various crises the EU has faced and is still facing (migration crisis, economic crisis, health crisis – COVID-19). For its part, the EU has not been able to respond successfully to the challenges it has been called upon to face, with the result that Euroscepticism has become an obstacle to European integration, creating a negative climate in young people’s relations with the EU. It is known throughout the EU that young people reject the EU as a whole, believing that it is not as supportive as it should be towards young people’s issues. Thus, the EU, wanting to reverse the negative climate with youth and show that it believes in young people and wants them close to it, creates strategic plans and objectives that are implemented through transnational partnerships. One of these is the YouthImpact+ project, which addresses one of the main concerns of young people, namely their vocational rehabilitation.
- Through the participation of various organisations in this transnational cooperation, young people gain a stronger voice, their needs are heard and efforts are made to meet them. Finally, through its designated coordinator, the EU ensures that young people’s voice is heard and their priorities are fully met.
Statement from the youth - What are priorities for young people across Europe (youtube video)
Overview
Title: Innovation in youth work as a key objective of the EU and its projects
Format: online
Duration: 50 min
Specifics: lear ners will use th eir smartphones.
Trainees will learn about the importance of innovation at work for youth as one of the key priorities of the EU and the YouthImpact+ project. Then trainees will learn more details about the digital tool produced as a result of this project.
This section ana lyses the specifi c feature of inno vation at work fo r youth. Moreover, the digital tool of the YouthImpact+ project is described.
During the specific training module the trainer will present the module in detail, solve questions and discuss with the learners everything that was presented in the module.
Building an innovative future for youth
As we all know, young people suffer from high unemployment rates, precarious and abusive working conditions, as well as discrimination in the labour market and in the workplace. The lack of information and appropriate skills for future employment prevents young people from fully integrating into the labour market. Thus, training young workers and familiarising them with new technologies is essential, especially from the pandemic onwards.
During the pandemic there was a need for new workers and the more experienced ones to learn to use new technologies with great ease in a short period of time. It is worth noting that for countries that were not so technologically advanced, such as Greece, it was quite difficult to modernise their technical equipment and to train young workers in this new reality. The EU, aware of this difficulty faced by Member States and individual workers, has decided to set a strategic goal for youth 2019- 2027 to put young people in innovative work. This could mean specialisation in new technologies and proper and deep training in the use of new technologies.
Thus, one of the most reliable ways to properly prepare young workers is to create transnational partnerships, through which young people will focus on new technologies, learn and be better prepared to enter the labour market. The YouthImpact+ project is developing a digital interactive tool that will allow youth workers and youth programme coordinators to quantify the social and environmental impact of youth programmes.
The Tool
HOW THE TOOL WORKS?
Let’s look of the second version of the tool
Click here: https://www.youthimpactplus.eu/
The functions of the tool with a shape
Our Call to Action for A STRONGER DIGITAL EUROPE (youtube video)
Self - assessment after the training
Now that you have read the whole section you can do your self-assessment
