Youth labour market disadvantage is not confined to high youth unemployment. In south-east Europe, it includes widespread underemployment, unprotected informal employment and discouragement – in addition to an average youth unemployment rate 2.5 times higher than that of the European Union. In young people?s experience, these disadvantages can be compounded by others, more generic, such as ethnicity, sex, educational level and social background. Using a range of measures, the authors explore the nature, causes and consequences of youth labour market disadvantage, concluding with an outline of the preventive and remedial labour market programmes that would be needed to complement employment-oriented macroeconomic policies.