The Impact of Youth Guarantee Programme in Italy

After financial crisis of 2008, difficulties about transition from school to work are increased for many young europeans, primarly in southern countries, where a weak welfare state is combined with a weak labour market. These countries - especially Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy – are characterized by high youth unemployment rates and high levels of NEETs (young people Not in Employment, Education or Training). In this context, European institutions developed guidelines and programmes to improve the employability and social inclusion of young people. One of the most important, from a political and budgetary viewpoint, is the Youth Guarantee (YG), dedicated to (re-) engage the NEETs in education, in vocational courses or in the labour market. I present the italian application of YG, Garanzia Giovani, as main misure of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) for youth in Italy. I compare different regional planes and strategies and discuss differences between governance models, actors involved, actions and outcomes of youth who joined the program. I describe the advantages and the limits of applicability in a southern context of a Nordic model of ALMPs. Of course these actions are not enough by themselves to reduce uncertainty and insecurity in youth employment, but they could serve only if they are inserted in a renewed framework that invests in training policies, integrated systems of lifelong career orientation and policies for job creation. I argue that to develop a better strategy of ALMPs for youth in Italy it is necessary include also municipalities, territorial networks and involve the same young people in the evaluation and co-definition of the measures.