Scant Work For Youth
GENEVA - Youth unemployment has skyrocketed worldwide over the past decade to some 88 million, according to a new study by the International Labour Office (ILO), reaching an all time high with young people aged 15 to 24 now representing nearly half the world's jobless.
"Global Employment Trends for Youth 2004," a new analysis prepared
by the ILO's Employment Strategy Department, found that while youth
represent 25 per cent of the working age population between the
ages of 15 and 64, they made up as much as 47 per cent of the total
186 million people out of work worldwide in 2003.
But the problem goes far beyond the large number of young
unemployed people:the report says that young people represent some
130 million of the world's 550 million working poor who work but
are unable to lift themselves and their families above the
equivalent of US$1 per day poverty line.
These young people struggle to survive, often performing work
under unsatisfactory conditions in the informal economy.
Tackling youth unemployment and the consequent vulnerabilities
and feelings of exclusion would be a significant contribution to
the global economy.
According to the report, halving the world youth unemployment
rate would add at least US$ 2.2 trillion to global GDP, equal to
around 4 per cent of the 2003 global GDP value.
Furthermore, as the report points out, people who get a good
start to working life are less likely to experience prolongued
unemployment later.
"We are wasting an important part of the energy and talent of
the most educated youth generation the world has ever had," says
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.
"Enlarging the chances of young people to find and keep decent
work is absolutely critical to achieving the UN Millennium
Development Goals."
Hits Youth Hard "Global Employment Trends for Youth 2004" found
that rising worldwide unemployment has hit young people hard,
especially young women.
Those who can find work often face long working hours,
short-term or informal contracts, low pay and little or no social
protection such as social security or other social benefits.
Young people are thus increasingly dependent on their families
and more susceptible to illegal activities, the report says.
The report puts the global youth unemployment rate at 14.4
percent in 2003, a 26.8 per cent increase of the total number of
young unemployed people over the past decade.
Youth unemployment rates in 2003 were highest in the Middle East
and North Africa (25.6 per cent), followed by sub-Saharan Africa
(21 per cent), the Transition economies (18.6 per cent), Latin
America and the Caribbean (16.6 per cent), South-East Asia (16.4
per cent), South Asia (13.9 per cent), the Industrialized economies
(13.4 per cent), and East Asia (7 per cent).
The industrialized economies region was the only region where
youth unemployment saw a distinct decrease (from 15.4 per cent in
1993 to 13.4 per cent in 2003). The report shows that the growth in
the number of young people is rapidly outstripping the ability of
economies to provide them with jobs.
While the overall youth population grew by 10.5 per cent over
the last 10 years to over 1.1 billion in 2003, youth employment
grew by only 0.2 per cent to around 526 million employment
opportunities.
Only some of this gap can be explained by the fact that more
young people are pursuing an education for longer periods.
Young people also have more difficulty finding work than their
adult counterparts, the report says, with the global youth
unemployment rate in 2003 at 3.5 times the global adult
unemployment rate.
While there is a correlation in most countries between trends in
youth and adult unemployment rates, the report notes that during
recessions, youth unemployment tends to rise more rapidly than
adult joblessness.
The relative disadvantage of youth is more pronounced in
developing countries, where they make up a strikingly higher
proportion of the labour force than in industrialized economies,
the report says.
Eighty-five per cent of the world's youth live in developing
countries where they are 3.8 times more likely to be unemployed
than adults, as compared with 2.3 times in industrialized
economies.
The report also says that labour force participation rates for
young people decreased in the world as a whole by almost 4
percentage points over the last decade, partly as a result of young
people staying in education but also because many young people
become so frustrated with the lack of employment opportunities that
they simply drop out of the labour force.
Participation was highest in East Asia (73.2 per cent),
sub-Saharan Africa (65.4 per cent), and lowest in the Middle East
and North Africa (39.7 per cent).
The report says that as well as suffering from lower chances to
find employment, young people face discrimination based on age, sex
and socio-economic background.
Dominant ethnic groups fare better in most countries' labour
markets, and the study finds that, in general, youth from lower
income households are more likely to be unemployed.
Future Prospects In developing regions - which have the largest
shares of youth within the working-age population - the fate of the
youth entering the labour force in years to come will depend on the
rate of growth of the economy as well as an improvement in the
employment content of growth, the report says.
In industrialized economies, where youth populations are
expected to fall, the effects of demographic change are likely to
reduce youth unemployment.
But the report warns that this will not happen
automatically.
A combination of both targeted and integrated policies on youth
unemployment is needed to enable young people to overcome their
natural disadvantage against older, more experienced, workers.
Such policies have been identified by the UN Secretary-General's
Youth Employment Network (YEN), a UN-World Bank-ILO partnership,
headquartered at the ILO.
Created following the Millennium Summit, the Network has
responded to the growing challenge of youth employment by pooling
the skills, experiences and knowledge of diverse partners at the
global, national and local level.
The YEN has promoted the development of National Action Plans on
youth employment amongst a group of "lead countries".
So far 10 countries (1) have stepped forward to champion the
development of national policies to showcase innovative solutions
to meeting the youth employment challenge.
The ILO is providing technical support and policy advice to
countries within this partnership.
One such tool is the recently released guide, "Improving
prospects for young women and men in the world of work", (2) which
specifies basic considerations, trade-offs and experiences that can
be drawn upon to develop and implement policies, including National
Action Plans on youth employment.
(1) Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mali, Namibia,
Rwanda, Senegal and Sri Lanka.
(2) "Improving prospects for young women and men in the world of
work" A Guide to Youth Employment.
Policy considerations and recommendations for the development of
National Action Plans on Youth Employment.
ILO, 2004, ISBN 92-2-115945-0 , available at
But the problem goes far beyond the large number of young
unemployed people:the report says that young people represent some
130 million of the world's 550 million working poor who work but
are unable to lift themselves and their families above the
equivalent of US$1 per day poverty line.These young people struggle
to survive, often performing work under unsatisfactory conditions
in the informal economy.Tackling youth unemployment and the
consequent vulnerabilities and feelings of exclusion would be a
significant contribution to the global economy.According to the
report, halving the world youth unemployment rate would add at
least US$ 2.2 trillion to global GDP, equal to around 4 per cent of
the 2003 global GDP value.Furthermore, as the report points out,
people who get a good start to working life are less likely to
experience prolongued unemployment later."We are wasting an
important part of the energy and talent of the most educated youth
generation the world has ever had," says ILO Director-General Juan
Somavia."Enlarging the chances of young people to find and keep
decent work is absolutely critical to achieving the UN Millennium
Development Goals."Hits Youth Hard "Global Employment Trends for
Youth 2004" found that rising worldwide unemployment has hit young
people hard, especially young women.Those who can find work often
face long working hours, short-term or informal contracts, low pay
and little or no social protection such as social security or other
social benefits.Young people are thus increasingly dependent on
their families and more susceptible to illegal activities, the
report says.The report puts the global youth unemployment rate at
14.4 percent in 2003, a 26.8 per cent increase of the total number
of young unemployed people over the past decade.Youth unemployment
rates in 2003 were highest in the Middle East and North Africa
(25.6 per cent), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (21 per cent), the
Transition economies (18.6 per cent), Latin America and the
Caribbean (16.6 per cent), South-East Asia (16.4 per cent), South
Asia (13.9 per cent), the Industrialized economies (13.4 per cent),
and East Asia (7 per cent).The industrialized economies region was
the only region where youth unemployment saw a distinct decrease
(from 15.4 per cent in 1993 to 13.4 per cent in 2003). The report
shows that the growth in the number of young people is rapidly
outstripping the ability of economies to provide them with
jobs.While the overall youth population grew by 10.5 per cent over
the last 10 years to over 1.1 billion in 2003, youth employment
grew by only 0.2 per cent to around 526 million employment
opportunities.Only some of this gap can be explained by the fact
that more young people are pursuing an education for longer
periods.Young people also have more difficulty finding work than
their adult counterparts, the report says, with the global youth
unemployment rate in 2003 at 3.5 times the global adult
unemployment rate.While there is a correlation in most countries
between trends in youth and adult unemployment rates, the report
notes that during recessions, youth unemployment tends to rise more
rapidly than adult joblessness.The relative disadvantage of youth
is more pronounced in developing countries, where they make up a
strikingly higher proportion of the labour force than in
industrialized economies, the report says.Eighty-five per cent of
the world's youth live in developing countries where they are 3.8
times more likely to be unemployed than adults, as compared with
2.3 times in industrialized economies.The report also says that
labour force participation rates for young people decreased in the
world as a whole by almost 4 percentage points over the last
decade, partly as a result of young people staying in education but
also because many young people become so frustrated with the lack
of employment opportunities that they simply drop out of the labour
force.Participation was highest in East Asia (73.2 per cent),
sub-Saharan Africa (65.4 per cent), and lowest in the Middle East
and North Africa (39.7 per cent).The report says that as well as
suffering from lower chances to find employment, young people face
discrimination based on age, sex and socio-economic
background.Dominant ethnic groups fare better in most countries'
labour markets, and the study finds that, in general, youth from
lower income households are more likely to be unemployed.Future
Prospects In developing regions - which have the largest shares of
youth within the working-age population - the fate of the youth
entering the labour force in years to come will depend on the rate
of growth of the economy as well as an improvement in the
employment content of growth, the report says.In industrialized
economies, where youth populations are expected to fall, the
effects of demographic change are likely to reduce youth
unemployment.But the report warns that this will not happen
automatically.A combination of both targeted and integrated
policies on youth unemployment is needed to enable young people to
overcome their natural disadvantage against older, more
experienced, workers.Such policies have been identified by the UN
Secretary-General's Youth Employment Network (YEN), a UN-World
Bank-ILO partnership, headquartered at the ILO.Created following
the Millennium Summit, the Network has responded to the growing
challenge of youth employment by pooling the skills, experiences
and knowledge of diverse partners at the global, national and local
level.The YEN has promoted the development of National Action Plans
on youth employment amongst a group of "lead countries".So far 10
countries (1) have stepped forward to champion the development of
national policies to showcase innovative solutions to meeting the
youth employment challenge.The ILO is providing technical support
and policy advice to countries within this partnership.One such
tool is the recently released guide, "Improving prospects for young
women and men in the world of work", (2) which specifies basic
considerations, trade-offs and experiences that can be drawn upon
to develop and implement policies, including National Action Plans
on youth employment.(1) Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran,
Mali, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal and Sri Lanka.(2) "Improving
prospects for young women and men in the world of work" A Guide to
Youth Employment.Policy considerations and recommendations for the
development of National Action Plans on Youth Employment.ILO, 2004,
ISBN 92-2-115945-0 , available at www.ilo.org/yen