CUPESSE · Cultural Pathways to Economic Self-Sufficiency and Entrepreneurship: Family Values and Youth Unemployment in Europe

The multi-disciplinary CUPESSE project carries out a comparative analysis of both the demand and supply side of youth unemployment in eleven Member States of the EU and Associated Countries (i.e. Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom). These ten countries represent the main empirical scope of the project, but whenever possible, the analysis is extended to include all European countries. CUPESSE has five main objectives. The first objective is to obtain a more refined understanding of the supply side of young adults’ employment by concentrating on how the inter-generational accumulation of social capital and cultural capital in the context of family organisation influences the economic self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship of young people in Europe. The second objective is to examine how supply-side factors and demand-side factors affect the unemployment of young adults. In this context we are particularly interested in the degree to which the attitudes and skills of young adults match with employers’ demands. The third objective is to understand the implications of young adults’ unemployment in the longer term, including the effects on the unemployed individuals and on society as a whole. The fourth objective is to investigate the degree to which flexicurity policies, policies supporting business start-ups and self-employment, and policies promoting education and training platforms are embraced by the European states and to assess their impacts on young adults’ unemployment. The fifth objective of the CUPESSE project is to present ideas for new policy measures and formulate strategy for overcoming youth unemployment in Europe. To attain this goal, the project brings together theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches from four academic disciplines, namely economics, political science, psychology, and sociology.