1. Youth unemployment in Belgium, some comments Joost Bollens HIVA KU Leuven

2. Early childhood education and care Early school leaving & drop out : underachievement, demotivation Importance of first years (before compulsory schooling): ∆ non-cognitive (and cognitive) skills cost- effectively Good ECEC -> performance at school -> less early school leaving Either by targeted programmes for disadvantaged families And /or by encouraging attending pre school kindergarten (or lowering age of compulsory schooling)

3. Part-time education & part-time work Potentially strong instrument to prevent early school leaving Marginal Negative choice – attracts pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds Lower standing as compared to general education Often no direct connection between education and work Moreover : often part-time unemployment (white collar professions, F: 40%, W: 75% did had a part-time work) Recently: involvement social partners (in F) by linking (modular) curriculum and occupational profiling

4. Unemployment rate (Eurostat 2003-2012) Youth (< 25)Prime aged (25-54) Brussels35.0%15.8% Wallonia29.6%9.6% Flanders13.5%4.0% Share of Low Skilled (Eurostat 2003-2011) Youth (20- 25)Prime aged (25-49) Brussels27.5%29.4% Wallonia21.3%28.3% Flanders13.9%22.0% Unem. rate low skilled (Eurostat 2003-2011) Youth (20- 25)Prime aged (25-49) Brussels52.2%28.6% Wallonia45.7%18.7% Flanders19.6%8.0%