Unemployment and social exclusion by young people in Europe

In a modern society, unemployment has a variety of negative aspects, in particular by young people.


The Big Bang project focuses on unemployed young people in conjunction with the social exclusion in Europe. It is addressing the problem of low ambition of young people and those who are participating in anti-social negative peer group behaviour, such as ‘gang’ culture and offending. Young people from marginalized groups are underrepresented in initial vocational education training and employment. The main objective is to find a holistic solution to this culture clash and to equip relevant professionals to more effectively assist young, marginalised people.

Long-time unemployment has negative effects, in particular for young people. In the recent OECD study regarding long-term unemployment it can have negative influence on “future income, skills, employability, job satisfaction, happiness and health levels” (June 2013).

When working with marginalised young people, it is very important to take into account skills, competences and knowledge and recognize the value of informal and non-formal learning. Informal learning is unstructured, unintentional and is connected to daily activities, without certification (family, work, leisure). Non-formal is intentional, structured and is usually provided by a training institution without certification. It is important that high quality personal is equipped with know-how to be able to support young people in relation to individual needs and support for job search activity.

More information about the project can be found here: http://bigbangllp.eu/