ABSTRACT
Central and local governments in the world economic crisis that began in 1929 all agreed that the problem of youth unemployment required action. Politicians and officials across the political spectrum put forward a common view of young people as being particularly susceptible to the demoralising effects of unemployment. The experience of work, they argued, played a vital role in socialising young people into industrious habits and into socially and politically responsible behaviour: mass youth unemployment could put the health and morals of an entire generation at risk. There was less unanimity, however, as to what action was necessary or possible. At a time of heavy cutbacks in public expenditure, conflicts over the allocation and use of resources were acute. A wide range of training, recreational and work schemes were discussed and adopted. Although these initiatives were so varied, a distinct trend emerged in public policies towards unemployed youth in the course of the Depression. Overall, the goal of reintegration into production through employment policy gave way to a policy chiefly aimed at subjecting the behaviour of the young unemployed to an increasing range of state and other controls. Measures to deal with unemployed youth were increasingly justified in terms of the need to replace the disciplinary function of the employer, to support the control of the family over its youthful members and to uphold the authority of the state.
