Activating and Educating Young Adults: Danish policies and the EU Youth Guarantee

The EU debate about the Youth Guarantee in 2013, when the scheme was being launched, sparked limited public interest in Denmark. Stakeholders realized that Denmark would not be eligible for the extra funding made available because of the relatively low level of youth unemployment. Still the Danish government produced an implementation plan for the Youth Guarantee, describing the national resources invested. The concept of youth guarantee is not new in Denmark. It first appeared in 1978 and in the following years a Social Democratic government pursued the idea, but without success because of neo-liberal resistance. However, during the last two decades Danish labor market policy has moved closer to the ideas in the EU Youth Guarantee. This is reflected in the Danish activation policy for the NEET group and for the broader group of young people depending on cash benefits or unemployment insurance benefits. This contribution will discuss the Danish government’s implementation plan for Youth Guarantee and the relationship between this and national policy, drawing on a case study of two Danish Youth Guarantee projects co-funded by the European Social Funds. EU funding for Danish Youth Guarantee’s activities comes only through the priority axis ‘Inclusion through education and employment’ of the European Social Funds (ESF).