OECD: the most exposed young must get help now

The Netherlands has passed legislation covering under-27s applying for unemployment benefit. It turns old truths upside down. Now the right to a job or education outranks the right to economic support.

"This is demanding of us who must implement this policy. We need to think along completely new lines," says Audrey Vernand, Seriese Van der Hout and Maartje Roelofs from the Dutch Ministry of Labour, with a smile (above).

The new law "Investing in Youths (WIJ) was implemented in October 2009. It sets out a strategy to tailor activation measures and says young people have a right to work or an education first, and a right to unemployment or other economic benefits second. 

Local authorities must now by law offer young people who come to them opportunities tailor-made for the individual. 

Each youth attends so-called one-stop-shops and meets a person from a pool of experts who should possess competence on the specific problems or wishes of the individual youth. 

The law lays out the rights and obligations of the local authorities and the youth. The purpose is to engage young people in a process which allows them to find a fitting job or education. If a youth decline the help, she also looses the right to economic support. The next step is then up to the youth herself. She can return but must then agree to work or attend school in order to receive benefits. The law puts a great deal of responsibility on the young person to make good use of the opportunities on offer. 

Further reading: OECD: Jobs for youth