OECD (2000)

Education and Work Among the Youth Population
POLICY CONTEXT
All OECD Member countries are experiencing rapid social and economic
changes that are making the transition to working life more uncertain. The
initial exposure of young people to the world of work can take place either
during education or following the completion of initial education. OECD
countries vary considerably in the extent to which young persons combine
work and education and tend to prolong their education. The general state of
the labour market seems to have a significant influence on both these
phenomena.
OECD countries vary
considerably in the
extent to which young
persons combine work
and education and tend
to prolong their
education.
EVIDENCE AND EXPLANATIONS
Young adulthood is generally the period when initial education is
completed and young persons enter the labour market for the first time. In
certain countries, education and work largely occur consecutively, while in
other countries they may take place concurrently. The various patterns of
education combined with work can have significant effects on the success of
the transition process. Of particular interest, for example, is the extent to which
working while in education may facilitate eventual definitive entry into the
labour force. Table E2.1 reveals the education and work status of young people
in a number of OECD countries, in the age groups 15 to 19, 20 to 24, 25 to 29,
and the overall situation for all young people aged 15 to 29.
Combining work and education
Working during education can occur in the context of work-study
programmes or in the form of part-time jobs out of school hours. Work-study
programmes are relatively common in European countries such as
Germany, Switzerland and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom, offering coherent vocational education pathways that lead
to widely agreed and recognised occupational qualifications. Many young
people also combine paid work out of school hours with education. This form
of initial contact with the labour market is a major feature of transition processes
in Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom,
the United States, and to a lesser extent, Austria, Finland, Germany and
Sweden. Finally, countries in which initial education and work are rarely associated
include Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and
Turkey. As young people get older, fewer are still in education, and fewer
hence combine it with work.
Work-study
programmes and other
ways of combining
work and education
are common in some
countries, but
rare in others.
E 2
The employment situations of men and women are broadly similar during
the years of education, with the exception of Austria and Germany, where there
is a greater participation of men in work-study programmes. Interestingly, in
Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, more
women than men in the age group 15 to 29 years combine work outside school
hours with education (Table E2.1a, b).
During the years
of education, the
employment situations
of men and women
are broadly similar
in most countries.
© OECD 2000
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