Transitions to Work among Young People with an Immigrant Background.

In the framework of an integrated European project investigating youth as a phase of life and the conditions for the development of young people in various EU member states or regions of Europe, this project is concerned with the transitions to work among young people with an immigrant background and among members of ethnic minorities. The aim is to analyse the challenges that arise for young people and young adults due to the individualization processes that take place in these EU states and as a result of national and European youth policies. In addition, the patterns of action and strategies for mastering the situation adopted by young people in the face of these challenges are to be investigated. For this purpose, statistical and empirical data on the life situation for ‘young people in Europe’ are being gathered, systematized and analysed in order to make them useful for developing recommendations on social policy and youth policy. An initial analysis of the available data suggests that particularly in the tripartite school system in Germany, young people with an immigrant background are channelled at an early stage into educational courses from which the transition to training and employment tends to be quite difficult.