Youth unemployment and marginality are multifaceted problems, having complex multiple causes and requiring diverse strategies of remedial action. This major premise was used both in developing this volume and in generating the conference that preceded it. The causes, consequences, and remedial actions are construed as having their locus at both the individual and societal levels. Thus, this collection is interdisciplinary, bringing together the thinking of social scientists representing the fields of psychology, sociology, history, and economics. A further assumption is that cross-national comparisons greatly enhance our understanding of the causes of the problem of youth unemployment, as well as providing us with insight into its solution.

In the first chapter, Hess, Petersen, and Mortimer provide a general orientation to what follows, discussing the meaning and sources of youth marginality, trends in unemployment in industrialized countries, and the causes thereof. The particular consequences of unemployment for adolescents are featured, with emphasis on identity formation, career development, and mental health. The authors examine the programs and policies that have been developed to cope with high youth unemployment rates in the industrialized countries of Japan, Western Europe, and the United States, identifying the features of programs that have proven to be most successful. Finally, they alert us to the possibilities of other social roles that may function as viable alternatives to paid employment, such as volunteer work, which offer youth meaningful connection to society and socialization experiences that will help to prepare them for their adult social roles.