Throughout the European Union, rates of unemployment among young people tend to be higher than among the general population and there is a serious risk of marginalization and exclusion. The rate of youth unemployment in the EU is more than twice the rate experienced by adults (20% compared to 9%), and is especially high among members of ethnic minorities. Southern Europe's youth unemployment rate is extremely high with about 40% of the unemployed population under 25 years of age, although they only represent 20% of the work force. This important new book presents the findings of the first comparative study of over 17,000 young unemployed people in ten European countries. It examines how welfare strategies and fiscal structures in different countries influence the risk of social exclusion among unemployed youth.