Surveys the history of youth unemployment and identifies key issues underlying the current crisis.• Explains the nature, scope, and consequences of the youth unemployment crisis in a way that is accessible for general readers• Includes a perspectives chapter that allows for the voices of many individuals to be heard, including those of policy experts and advocates for disenfranchised youth• Gives general readers a better of understanding of who is involved in combating the youth unemployment crisis and provides a foundation for further research in profile and references chapters, respectively• Explores the role that politics played in causing the crisis and how policy could better address it