STUDY Youth Unemployment in Poland MICHAŁ POLAKOWSKI November 2012  Poland has suffered less from the global economic crisis than many other countries, at least in statistical terms. The main negative phenomena affecting young people include the rise in unemployment and the growth of precarious employment and in-work poverty. However, these problems were pressing even before the crisis. Con­sequently, one should speak of two problems in tandem: structural problems(low labour demand, problems with the education system and labour market transitions, as well as skills mismatches) and issues that are crisis-driven(especially the further decline in labour demand and constrained spending on labour market policy).  Unemployment is especially high among young people aged 15–24, more specifically those with only a basic vocational education. University graduates show the lowest unemployment rates, but the unemployment rate for this group has been on the rise since 2008.  The measures that should be taken include an ›unfreezing‹ of the existing surplus in the Labour Fund for job training and job placement, the redirection of national and European resources to vocational training and a stronger engagement by the social partners, especially employers, in skills formation.