The young Portuguese are among the least mobile of the young Europeans. The current Portuguese economic situation and the deteriorating conditions of integration in the job market affect particularly the young population and, among them, those most disadvantaged. It is therefore important to study the processes through which young Portuguese, in their diversity, are building their professional trajectories, and understanding the spatial dimension of this construction. This presentation will discuss, drawing from statistical analysis of official sources, the relationship between mobility and the job market in Portuguese young people, based on dimensions of social inequality (gender, social class, geographical and ethnic national origin). The most recent contributions of the sociology of youth, migration and mobility will be articulated, namely those that problematize the processes of transition to working life, and its spatial dimension. The job market is believed to play a mediating role in the configuration of the contemporary mobility trajectories. What factors and processes favour or block the emergence of mobility projects and paths within the scope of integration in the job market? We will investigate how the processes of transnationalization occurring in Portugal influence the job opportunities, and configure their spatial dimension. Mobility is approached not only from its manifestation, but also from its non-manifestation, that is, considering also immobility. The analysis will be focused in the conditions of facilitation or constraint of the emergence of mobility trajectories, observing socially differentiated youngsters, and searching for the identification of dispositions and patterns of, and for, mobility. We will look also at the migratory destinations and the underlying logic of choice.

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Mobility,youth