Research on international youth mobility has been fragmented, mostly based on relatively small samples and case studies. YMOBILITY develops a comprehensive research programme which addresses the following:

• Identifying, and quantifying, the main types of international youth mobility in Europe, and their key characteristics. Particular attention will be given to differences between and within three main types: highly skilled, less skilled and students

• Understanding what determines which individuals do and which do not participate in international mobility as personal and professional development strategies: their motives, migration channels and information sources

• Analysing the individual outcomes in terms of both employability and careers (skills and competences) and non-economic terms (welfare and identities).

• Analysing the territorial outcomes for the regions of both origin and destination, in economic, demographic and cultural terms

• Differentiating between short-term and long-term outcomes, taking into account return migration and future intentions to migrate.

• Identifying implications for policies in migration but also of education, the economy and housing

The research will utilise existing secondary data for Europe, but will mainly rely on primary quantitative data (large-scale surveys to be undertaken by polling agency) and qualitative data (interviews with migrants and returned migrants). The study will focus on 9 countries representing different contexts for youth mobility: Romania, Slovakia and Latvia as sources of emigration and return; the UK and Sweden as destinations for migrants; Germany, Italy, Ireland and Spain as both major destinations and countries of origin. The policy analysis will be informed by interviews undertaken with key informants, such as migrant associations and policy-makers. Experimental methods will be used to assess how individuals will respond to different scenarios of future economic and social change.