Following the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), the European economic model has failed to provide an even recovery across countries and social groups, reflected in part in the increased youth unemployment rate in many EU countries (OECD, 2016). Around 20% of 15-24 year olds in the European youth labour force have been reported as unemployed, with variation between countries, including more than double that percentage in Spain, Italy and Greece (OECD, 2015). One of the government levers for attempting to reduce the impact of the repercussions of the GFC is through the maintenance, development and creation of opportunities for education and training for young people. Government policies and initiatives, partly driven by concerns about potential social unrest, aim to support the post-school transitions of different disadvantaged groups (e.g. school drop-outs, migrants, disabled young people). The international literature suggests that young people’s participation in post-school learning is influenced by contextual and individual factors, referred to as ‘bounded agency’ (Desjardins, 2017; Evans et al., 2013; Rubenson and Desjardins, 2009).  

It is evident that European countries differ with regard to participation in post-compulsory learning activities, as well as in youth employment rates and institutional structures designed to support post-school education and training.  Drawing on Esping-Anderson’s (1990) original welfare state typology and subsequent applications to the field of lifelong learning (Boeren, 2016; Holford et al., 2008; Riddell et al., 2012; Saar et al., 2013), this paper explores the political, economic and social factors leading to variations in post-school education and training in selected developed countries. 

Data are drawn from the EU Horizon 2020 ENLIVEN project, which, among other things, analyses the national institutional architecture and patterns of participation in post-school education.  Jurisdictions involved in the project represent the broad typologies of Esping-Anderson’s framework, including those which may be characterised as liberal (Scotland, England), conservative-corporatist (Flanders, Austria), familial (Italy, Spain) and social-democratic (Denmark). Countries reflecting the emerging lifelong learning and welfare regimes of Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Estonia, Slovakia) are also included.  We acknowledge the limitations of welfare state typologies and the importance of national and regional diversity (Riddell and Weedon, 2012).  However, we believe that the application of welfare state typologies, alongside insights from bounded agency theory, enables us to develop a better understanding of national and regional variations in post-school provision, and the relative success of different approaches to meeting the challenges of economic and social insecurity accompanying globalisation.   The specific research question addressed in this paper is the following: How does the institutional architecture of post-school education and training vary in different national contexts, and how do these structures influence the possibilities and choices available to young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds?

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