The transition from education to work: how does it happen?

This research proposal aims, in the first instance, at the conceptualisation and the implementation of a survey system, gathering on a continuous basis data with regard to the transition from the period of initial education to work. Although ‘labour market entrance’ will be the main focus of the research activities, it will be intended to place the transition problem in a broader perspective and to look at it as a process instead of happening at a precise point in time. At the same time, it aims to illustrate the significance and importance, for policy-oriented social research, of having at its disposal regularly updated longitudinal information, based on cross-section surveys of school leavers or/and on panel research, following cohorts entering the labour market. As a first stage, we set ourselves two objectives: a) the setting up, the testing and the evaluation of a prototype of the system to be implemented in the longer run, b) the demonstration of the substantive results available from this approach by reporting on a global set of indicators, regarding the transition period, and by analysing a restricted number of topics more in-depth.