Youth Unemployment and Social Exclusion in Belgium

In Belgium, unemployment is seen as a consequence of the mechanisms of supply and demand (HIVA-stuurgroep, 1986; Hoger Instituut, 1988) in the sense that it occurs when the supply (amount of persons willing to work) exceeds the demand (amount of available jobs). More recently, some official institutions defined unemployment as an imbalance between supply and demand on the labour market (Ministerie, 1995; Stuurgroep, 1997).