Youth unemployment and above-all long-term youth unemployment in
Bulgaria is much higher than the EU average. Low flows out of unemployment into a job,
especially for the least educated and qualified young people residing in peripheral regions
are the principal source of long term unemployment amongst young people. Evidence
based on various data sources suggests on the one hand the most disadvantaged segments
of the young population are left with two equally unsatisfactory alternatives: working in
the informal sector and thus, in practice, often permanently withdrawing from the labour
force or emigrating. On the other hand, employment policies face significant financial
and institutional constraints. Increasingly, with rising overall unemployment, passive
policy is taking an increasing proportion of expenditure on labour market policy to the
detriment of active policies. Moreover, important segments of young people are bypassed
by such active measures as do exist. An adequate response requires action at the level of
the education system as well as more extensive and more effective Active Labour Market
Policy. This paper concludes with some suggestions for the way in which such policies
might be developed.