Youth unemployment: a global generation at risk

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Source: ILO

The global youth unemployment rate will reach 12.6% this year, affecting 73.4 million people between the ages 15 to 24. The rate is projected to reach 12.8% by 2018. The situation isn’t much less gloomy for many of the young who actually are working: they increasingly rely on part-time jobs, work on temporary contracts, or suffer a skills mismatch between their education and their job, creating a large class of underemployed.

These are some of the main points of the International Labour Organization’s latest report, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013. Beyond the cold numbers the UN agency delves into the long-term impact of the current situation, which, it says, could create “wage scars” that could continue to depress employment and earnings prospects even decades later. Today’s youth are already part of a lost generation —no matter how much politicians and others want to avoid the term. The increase of 3.5 million jobless youths since 2007 is the proof.

Young people face difficulties in the labour market worldwide, especially the low skilled, those exposed to long-term unemployment or those stuck in the informal economy. While the focus is often on Europe’s unemployed youth, the Middle East has the highest regional youth unemployment rate, followed by North Africa.

Tackling global youth unemployment is one of the most immense political challenges of our day. Gianni Rosas, coordinator of the ILO Youth Employment Programme and co-author of the report, calls for “a strong focus on growth and jobs, including through a more coordinated macroeconomic response at national and global levels”.

The OECD also voiced concern about the effects of youth unemployment in its latest economic outlook: the rise of long-term unemployment, by moving unemployed young people off unemployment insurance on to less generous social benefits, is increasing poverty and inequality.

Europe, in particular, is having difficult dealing with the problem. Even though it is initiating a youth employment guarantee plan, many believe it is too little, too late. As of March 2013, 5.7 million young people were unemployed in the wider E.U. area of 27 countries, with 3.6 million in the euro zone.

Austerity has killed job creation. Many young people see their best option to find a job being to abandon their home-country. That only intensifies the sense of despair. “We saved the banks but are running the risk of losing a generation,” said Martin Schulz, a German socialist who heads the European Parliament, in an interview with Reuters.

The consequences of the astonishingly high numbers of unemployed youths in the Middle East are unsettling. Youth unemployment was one of the causes of the Arab Spring though today it has taken a back seat to political mismanagement and other economic issues. The “skills gap” is the pressing issue in the region. Too many young in the Middle East do not have access to the type of education necessary to be competitive in today’s global job market.

Regional distribution of the youth population in 2012

Will world’s youth rise up in revolt? Despite some protests and outbreaks of violence across southern Europe, it could be much worse. The Middle East could see a resurgence of anger against those in power, this time less peacefully. The fear among policy makers is that that a spark could ignite the tinder of discontent at any moment. Economic growth and job creation are urgent remedies to save the social, economic and political stability of many countries.

* ILO Announcement: Sara Elder and Theodore Sparreboom, ILO Senior Labour Economists, will hold a Twitter question and answer session on the report’s findings on Friday May 10th from 14:00-15:00 GMT. To participate, tweet to @ILONews, #GETYouth.