This chapter explains that young people have been among the losers during the post-1970s economic restructuring. Many have responded by remaining longer in education, but the labour market returns to higher education have deteriorated, especially for young people from less advantaged backgrounds. Where vocational routes through education and training have been retained, these are now less likely than in the past to lead to secure skilled jobs. The chapter explains how the situations of less advantaged young people vary according to the organisation of education in their countries, and the extent of labour market regulation. In unregulated labour markets or labour market segments, there has been expansion in the volume of low-paid, precarious jobs. Elsewhere youth unemployment has risen steeply. There are implications for career guidance: not so much what young people want, but their more frequent requests and higher expectations of the guidance professions, alongside the greater difficulties everyone faces in securing acceptable outcomes. © 2012 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
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