Support provision for long-term unemployed youngsters on their way into the primary labour market

The labour market situation has seen positive development in recent years. Demand for skilled workers has risen and the number of unemployed has fallen. However, not all groups of people benefit equally from the upturn in the labour market. For the unemployed who qualify for benefits under the jurisdiction of the Second Book of the Social Code (SGB II), the entrenchment of exclusion is a fatal trend. This is especially problematic when young people’s exclusion from the labour market occurs at the beginning of their employment biography. The article introduces the pilot project “ZIEL – Zielgerichtete Integration junger Langzeitarbeitsloser” [Goal – goal-directed integration of the young long-term unemployed] in Saxony and investigates how it can help to break the vicious cycle of unemployment, diminishing employability and erosion of qualifications.