ABSTRACT
As discussed in the other chapters of this book, the activation approach has become dominant in labour market policies, including those aimed at young people, bringing a shift in the philosophy and the policy objectives; this is a paradigm shift or third order policy change. The new paradigm is underpinned by the moral typification of people as deserving and underserving, accompanied by principles of conditionality of benefits related to compliance with the requirement to work. Such an approach is harmful to the material well-being and also to the social participation and citizenship rights of young people who are marginalised in the labour market and live in deprived neighbourhoods. The problems indicated above have grown with the increase in scale of youth unemployment and the policy responses that put a growing emphasis on work-first and workfare measures: young people typically have limited access to unemployment insurance benefits, leading to an increase in the group targeted by such measures.
