This section of the book moves to look at the situation of young people within and outside the labour market. It deals with the excluded and marginalised, but also examines the terms on which young people are included in the labour market, highlighting insecure and nonstandard employment, dependency and low pay.

The six chapters in this section draw on research employing a variety of methods: quantitative, qualitative, secondary and documentary analysis. Two chapters (Four and Eight) draw on the survey carried out in Europe by Torild Hammer and colleagues: Álvaro and Garrido discuss job seeking and motivation among the unemployed, while Carle and Hammer consider the political effects of unemployment. Chapters Three and Five draw on qualitative work in the Netherlands and the UK. Both are concerned with investigating who are the ‘winners and losers’ in the changing economic circumstances of the ‘New Europe’ and with exploring changing labour market trajectories. Chapters Six and Seven deal with two particular groups of young people whose situation causes considerable concern. Chapter Six considers the position of young people in two of the ex-Soviet societies that are now part of the enlarged Europe – Hungary and Slovenia – while Craig et al in Chapter Seven deal with the particular disadvantages faced by minority ethnic youth in Europe.

The chapters highlight national differences but also point to many common features in young people's labour market situations across Europe.