Youth unemployment in Spain: causes and solutions

Youth unemployment in Spain is a persistent phenomenon that has worsened during the current crisis. And at the levels now being registered (46.1% in 2Q11), the measures to fight it can be delayed no longer. The evidence presented in this document indicates that there are serious shortcomings in Spain\'s education system and labour market, which explain the country\'s relatively high level of youth unemployment. The former include early school leaving and the imbalance between job supply and demand at the different education levels attained, which complicates youngsters\' access to the labour market and has a negative impact on their professional career. While the most significant among the latter are the segmentation of the labour market and the ineffectiveness of active labour market policies. Therefore, extenuating youth unemployment requires coordinated action between education and the labour market trough measures as the ones suggested in this document.