Abstract

The article presents an empirical analysis of the Italian Youth Guarantee (YG) based on the approach of the new policy design. After having reviewed the most recent literature on this analytical approach, it examines the rationales, actors, aims and contextual factors, as well as the political dynamics, that characterised the design of the YG national plan and its first implementation at the local level. The article argues that the Youth Guarantee offered the opportunity to think about the reorganisation of responsibilities and operational governance mechanisms in the domain of active labour market policy. Although some innovations and discontinuities can be observed, the reform path is still largely incomplete.