Sweden: Young and Jobless | European Journal

One young person in three in Sweden doesn't have a job. During an election campaign, that's a heavy burden on the government, which vowed to take up the fight against youth unemployment.Now it's still stubbornly high, which is a bad sign for this welfare-conscious country. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt promised to improve the situation. After initial progress, though, the global slump hit Sweden and worsened job prospects for the young. The employers' association sees two causes of the problem: Excessively high entry-level pay and professional training that doesn't reflect the companies' actual needs. Now the private sector is supposed to get more involved.