Introduction

As the previous chapters have stressed, the transformation of the labour market during the past few decades has been the subject of many discussions. In the Netherlands as well as other Western European countries, processes of globalisation and the rise of information and communication technology have changed the functioning of the labour market. New professions have come up and existing ones have changed profoundly or vanished altogether, and organisations require new attitudes from their workers (de Beer, 2001). The job for life seems to be past perfect; instead, employees should commit themselves to lifelong learning to keep up their level of employability (European Commission, 2000; van Hoof, 2001).

Transitions between education and work have changed from – at the most – one-off experiences to regularly returning ‘yo-yo’ movements between situations of employment, unemployment, education and care. Young people may find themselves in situations of multiple status at the same time (blending areas of life) in, for instance, combining work, schooling and care. A smooth and successful transition from education to work is far from self-evident any more. Given the transnational nature of these processes, changes with regard to the functioning of the labour market and related transitions appear to be taking place in most European countries, albeit in different tempi and with diverse outcomes (EGRIS, 2001; Walther et al, 2002; du Bois-Reymond and Lopéz Blasco, 2003).

With the shift from an industrial to a service economy, there would supposedly also take place a change from an industrial to a knowledge-based information society. This development would be accompanied by accelerated processes of individualisation and destandardisation of the youth life course, an increase of expressive values at the expense of instrumental values (Vinken et al, 2002) and a decline in the centrality of work within the life course in comparison with domains such as free time, family, the care for children and personal relationships. In short, there is a tendency away from a work ethic to what we might term a combination ethic, stressing a balance of values and priorities (Breedveld, 2001; du Bois-Reymond et al, 2001; te Poel, 2002). Other discussions point at new skills that would be necessary in this changing labour market and social context, within which insecurity and flexibilisation have become a permanent part of the life course (Dieleman, 2000a).