KSE members are taking part in research project "Social Exclusion of Youth in Europe"

Project Social Exclusion of Youth in Europe: Cumulative Disadvantage, Coping Strategies, Effective Policies and Transfer (EXCEPT) – is a three year research project within Horizon 2020, the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme.

KSE Members that are taking part in the project: Dr. Hanna Vakhitova, Dr. Olena Nizalova and Natalia Shapoval

Against the background of increasing labour market insecurities among youth during the recent crisis, the aim of this interdisciplinary and internationally comparative project is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the consequences of youth labour market vulnerability for risks of social exclusion in Europe. A multidimensional dynamic perspective on both objective and subjective dimensions of the social exclusion of young people is adopted in order to identify the complex interrelationships and potential risks of cumulative disadvantages and possible compensatory mechanisms. Specifically, implications of labour market insecurities for youth’s risks of poverty and material deprivation, their subjective well-being and health status as well as their ability to reach independence from parental home are investigated in a mixed-method approach. First, qualitative interviews are conducted with youths from nine selected European countries including Ukraine in order to reach an in-depth understanding of how disadvantaged youths perceive their social situation and try to cope with it in different economic, institutional and cultural environments. Second, quantitative methods are applied using EU-28 and national micro-data in order to identify the causal interrelationships and dynamic processes of youth’s social exclusion in different national contexts. Third, the diffusion and effectiveness of EU and national policies that address various issues of youth social exclusion are assessed in EU-28 based on expert interviews and policy evaluation analyses. A central objective of this comparative project is to learn about examples of best practises and provide suggestions for reforms and policies that help improving the social situation of young people who face labour market insecurities and also involve youth own voice in this process. By involving and addressing different stakeholder groups at all stages of the project the dissemination of results will be ensured.

The EXCEPT consortium brings together ten teams of European research institutes

1. Tallinn University in Estonia: Professor Dr. Ellu Saar and Senior Research Fellow Dr. Marge Unt, Institute of International and Social Studies
2. University of Oldenburg in Germany: Professor Dr. Michael Gebel,  Department of Social Sciences
3. University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany: Professor Dirk Hofäcker, Institute for Social Work and Social Politics
4. Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge in Bulgaria: Associate Prof. Dr. Maria Jeliazkova, Department Public Policies and Social Changes
5. Aristotle University in Greece: Professor Vassiliki Deliyanni-Kouimtzi,Developmental and School Psychology
6. University of Turin in Italy: Professor Sonia Bertolini, Department of Culture, Politics and Society,
7. The Educational Research Institute in Poland: Assistant Professor Dr. Maja Rynko, Education and Labour Market Unit
8. Umeå University in Sweden: Prof Mattias Strandh and Dr. Anna Baranowska-Rataj, Department of Sociology
9. University of Kent: Dr. Olena Nizalova and Dr. Rowena Merritt from the Centre for Health Services Studies
10. Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine:  Dr. Hanna Vakhitova and Natalia Shapoval, Kyiv Economics Institute

Start date: 01/05/2015 End date: 30/04/2018

Funding of the overall project: € 2 497 416