Policy Brief: Expanding the possibilities of working holidays

Caitlin Katsiaficas & Justyna Segeš Frelak have just published a policy brief entitled Expanding the possibilities of working holidays.

Here's the introduction:

Working holiday programmes and other youth mobility schemes offer a chance to live, work, travel, potentially train or study the local language, and more generally acquire experience in another country. Many working holiday programmes emphasise cultural exchange and tourism as their raison d’être, offering a chance for youth to gain international experience with the possibility of working to help finance their stay and travel. Other youth mobility schemes have a different focus, such as education or employability. Targeted at young people, these schemes can offer a range of benefits to participants, employers, destination countries, and origin countries alike. However, while EU Member States have initiatives in place to support such schemes, particularly work and travel, these remain limited in scope and scale. By contrast, programmes in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States are far larger in terms of participating countries, participating youth, and concurrently impact. Against this backdrop, this paper explores the potential benefits of strategically expanding mobility opportunities for third-country national youth to the EU and maps different options for making this possible. It additionally presents the potential trade- offs when it comes to programme goals and design and highlights key considerations for those looking to develop and launch new youth mobility schemes.

It comes with infographics. I love a good infographic.

-KitJ