A research project published by the Institute for Economic and Social Research at Essex University has shown that half of young people in the UK are in the job market at just over 19 years old, whereas in Spain and Italy it takes another 5 years for half of the age group to join the workforce. Young men in the UK are also more likely to be in jobs with long hours (31% of young men in the UK, compared with 12% in Ireland and 8% in Sweden).

Other insights from the report:
– women are leaving education with more qualifications than men throughout the EU except in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
– among men between 21 and 25, 73% of Danes will have left home, but only 7% of Italians.
– young Dutch people are 20 times more likely to be socially excluded and in poverty than their Portuguese counterparts.

The authors noted that the years between the teens and mid-twenties are generally becoming less predictable, and that young people in work tend to lack job security, in contrast with their parents' experiences at the same age.

The report is available free from the ISER