After a long period of near full employment, an unexpected mass unemployment began in the Federal Republic of Germany in the mid-1970s, as it did in many other Western countries. The associated youth unemployment drew particular attention from politicians and the public. The unusual crisis phenomena in the youth labor market, which remained at a relatively moderate level in international comparison, gradually became a permanent state. Thomas Raithel examines, for the first time from a contemporary historical perspective, the development of youth unemployment in West Germany during the 1970s and 1980s and analyzes its perception and combat.