Youth unemployment - the ticking bomb
Dec. 17th, 2011 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterThe young people in the developed world have been the most affected by the recession. Unemployment among the youth is considerably higher than with the middle aged, and the prolonged economic recovery during the last months has additionally worsened their chances of finding a job soon, the OECD concludes in its latest report.
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/12/13/unemployment-rises-in-advanced-economies/
The other most affected segments are the people with temporary jobs and the permanently unemployed (those who haven't had a job for more than a year).
The third quarter of the year has seen a youth unemployment (for the 15-25 year group) of 17% and more in the 30 member countries of OECD. This is considerably higher than the 7% that is observed with the people over 25 years. In EU this number is even higher - 20%, with some big differences between the countries. Spain exceeds 45%, while Holland has less than 7%. The biggest danger is if youth unemployment becomes long-term unemployment. The long periods without a job are particularly harmful because they increase the risk of losing working skills and habits, lowering the self-esteem and motivation and meanwhile they increase the danger of slipping into poverty, marginalisation, health deterioration, poor results at school for the children of the affected.
The report also includes a prescription: despite the harsh austerity measures that most of these governments are taking to fight the crisis, investment in job creation for the young should not be completely neglected. A potential slowing down or even stopping of these investments poses a serious risk for the long-term economic development and competitiveness of these countries.
Some countries like Holland and Germany are still able to keep a relatively low youth unemployment, thanks to their comprehensive education and qualification programs which shouldn't be viewed as expenses for the national budgets, because of their high return value in the long term. This is essentially investment in the future, and it should be carefully considered when deciding where to cut and how, and where to invest more.
Youth unemployment is most risky for a particular group of marginalized people, the so-called triple U (unemployed, uneducated, unstudyng). There are over 20 million people in the 30 OECD countries alone, who not only do not go to school or work, but are not motivated to do so, they lack the necessary qualification to compete on the labour market, and neither do they desire or plan to achieve it, and they are threatened to remain outside the market for a long time. During the first quarter of this year this group constituted 12% of the 15-25 year old group in these developed countries. In comparison, this was about 10% three years ago.
In the context of the sluggish market recovery, an increasing number of those young people who would have easily found a job during better times, are risking joining the above group, staying inactive with potentially devastating consequences for their careers, their personal prosperity, their prospects of creating a family, and the whole economy and society respectively.
The advice at the end of the report warrants some consideration. It recommends the removal of the structural barriers that now exist and bar the youth from free and easy access to the labour market. And by structural barriers I mean the lack of adequate and accessible professional training in schools that would answer the needs of the labour market. And here, as in many other areas, achieving a balance is needed, so that the schools don't end up producing either poorly qualified workforce or overly qualified workers who are then compelled to work for much less than what their level of qualification deserves.
And another recommendation that I think is very important is to remove over-regulation on the labour market, but here again being very cautious when cutting, and coupling this with a reform in the legal system of work contracts, especially focusing on those that prevent the employment of young people. The other recommendation, for carrying out a policy of adequate minimum wage, is also a delicate thing that is critical in this respect.
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/12/13/unemployment-rises-in-advanced-economies/
The other most affected segments are the people with temporary jobs and the permanently unemployed (those who haven't had a job for more than a year).
The third quarter of the year has seen a youth unemployment (for the 15-25 year group) of 17% and more in the 30 member countries of OECD. This is considerably higher than the 7% that is observed with the people over 25 years. In EU this number is even higher - 20%, with some big differences between the countries. Spain exceeds 45%, while Holland has less than 7%. The biggest danger is if youth unemployment becomes long-term unemployment. The long periods without a job are particularly harmful because they increase the risk of losing working skills and habits, lowering the self-esteem and motivation and meanwhile they increase the danger of slipping into poverty, marginalisation, health deterioration, poor results at school for the children of the affected.
The report also includes a prescription: despite the harsh austerity measures that most of these governments are taking to fight the crisis, investment in job creation for the young should not be completely neglected. A potential slowing down or even stopping of these investments poses a serious risk for the long-term economic development and competitiveness of these countries.
Some countries like Holland and Germany are still able to keep a relatively low youth unemployment, thanks to their comprehensive education and qualification programs which shouldn't be viewed as expenses for the national budgets, because of their high return value in the long term. This is essentially investment in the future, and it should be carefully considered when deciding where to cut and how, and where to invest more.
Youth unemployment is most risky for a particular group of marginalized people, the so-called triple U (unemployed, uneducated, unstudyng). There are over 20 million people in the 30 OECD countries alone, who not only do not go to school or work, but are not motivated to do so, they lack the necessary qualification to compete on the labour market, and neither do they desire or plan to achieve it, and they are threatened to remain outside the market for a long time. During the first quarter of this year this group constituted 12% of the 15-25 year old group in these developed countries. In comparison, this was about 10% three years ago.
In the context of the sluggish market recovery, an increasing number of those young people who would have easily found a job during better times, are risking joining the above group, staying inactive with potentially devastating consequences for their careers, their personal prosperity, their prospects of creating a family, and the whole economy and society respectively.
The advice at the end of the report warrants some consideration. It recommends the removal of the structural barriers that now exist and bar the youth from free and easy access to the labour market. And by structural barriers I mean the lack of adequate and accessible professional training in schools that would answer the needs of the labour market. And here, as in many other areas, achieving a balance is needed, so that the schools don't end up producing either poorly qualified workforce or overly qualified workers who are then compelled to work for much less than what their level of qualification deserves.
And another recommendation that I think is very important is to remove over-regulation on the labour market, but here again being very cautious when cutting, and coupling this with a reform in the legal system of work contracts, especially focusing on those that prevent the employment of young people. The other recommendation, for carrying out a policy of adequate minimum wage, is also a delicate thing that is critical in this respect.
