The EU and its member states should make apprenticeships central to their plans to tackle massive youth unemployment in Europe

Over 24 million people are now unemployed in the EU, with 5.5 million under the age of 25. Robert Plummer argues that this unemployment is a paradox: young people have never been so well educated. Citing recent research, he finds that countries in Europe that have dual apprenticeship learning schemes have the lowest levels of youth unemployment. The EU and its Member States must now push for youth apprenticeships to give young people practical professional experience to help get them into work.