Brussels,

The reinforced Youth Guarantee: personalised support for young people under 30

The reinforced Youth Guarantee is the EU framework through which Member States commit to ensuring that all young people under 30 receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education. The commitment was formalised in the Council Recommendation of October 2020, following a Commission proposal included in the broader Youth Employment Support package. 

The reinforcement responded to the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis on young people. Compared with the original Youth Guarantee, the 2020 version expanded the target group to people aged 15 to 29 and placed greater emphasis on reaching young people who face multiple barriers to labour-market entry. Its approach is more personalised: young people should receive guidance adapted to their needs, including short training, crash courses or boot camps where upskilling is necessary.

The framework also asks Member States to take account of local labour-market intelligence and the employment opportunities created by the digital and green transitions. 

The Youth Guarantee has become a major driver of reform in Public Employment Services and youth employment policy. According to the Commission, more than 63 million young people have started an offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship through Youth Guarantee schemes since 2013. The number of NEETs and youth unemployment have fallen significantly over the period, although the Commission stresses that further action is still needed to reach all young people requiring support. Member States implement the initiative through national Youth Guarantee implementation plans. 

EU support combines funding, policy guidance and monitoring. The reinforced Youth Guarantee is backed by NextGenerationEU, the long-term EU budget and especially the European Social Fund Plus. The Commission also supports mutual learning, tracks implementation across Member States and provides practical resources such as information on where to register for the Youth Guarantee, the Youth Guarantee country-by-country overview, and the Youth Guarantee Knowledge Centre. 

Analytically, the reinforced Youth Guarantee is more than an anti-unemployment measure. It is a transition-management tool: it connects education, training, employment services and employers around the goal of preventing long-term exclusion at the start of working life. Its effectiveness depends on outreach to vulnerable young people, quality of offers, local labour-market relevance and the capacity of public employment services to provide truly individualised support.