The younger generations' problems in accessing the labour market is a pressing issue in the agendas of policymakers, in particular the NEETs problem (Not engaged in Education, Employment or Training). In Europe they account for 11.5% of the population in the 15-24 age group. In Italy, one youth in five does not go to school, does not work and is not looking for a job. The European Commission's 2017 ESDE report certifies it, placing our country at the top of the list: 19.9% of youth do nothing. The trend is falling (in 2013 almost 23 young men out of 100 were doing nothing) but if we consider inactive youths aged between 25 and 29, equally affected by unemployment (in Italy, Greece and Spain the figure tops 40%), the NEET generation exceeds 2.2 million people.

In 2013, the EU intervened with Youth Guarantee, a programme specifically dedicated to NEETs (allocated funds totalling 3.2 billion Euros), which Italy took up too, in 2014. For the first time in five years, the number of employed youths aged under 25 in Italy rose: +63,000. Was it the introduction of the Youth Guarantee programme that modified the labour market, increasing employment opportunities for Italian NEETs? This study - taken from a dissertation of a Master's degree in Analysis and Evaluation of Public Policies - tries to come up with an answer, following the experiences in Piedmont and Sardinia, during the first 18 months of implementation, between 2014 and 2015.