From school to work: the implementation of a permanent and longitudinal observatory instrument (phase two)

In the long run, the main objective of our research team is the construction of a permanent observatory with regard to the transition from school to work. Based on a regular cross-section survey of cohorts of 23-year olds and regular revisits of older cohorts at a further point in their life-cycle, we aim at constructing three types of data-sets: a) a data set of ‘transition data’, focusing on the dynamics of the process, b) a data-set of consistent time-series, based on the cross-section panel element, c) a data-set of longitudinal data, following individuals over a longer spell of time. In the short run, our efforts have been concentrated on the construction of the necessary instruments for a survey of a first cohort of 23-year olds, running at the moment. In the near future we hope to be able to extend the building blocks for our long run objective with a survey of a second cohort of 23-year olds and a revisit of the first cohort at age 26. Members of our research team have also been involved in data on the transition from secondary school to higher education or to the labour market to the so-called Loso-cohort.