Youth unemployment
The focus regarding youth unemployment discussions mainly touch on how these issues can be adjusted and, in turn, they create a situation of dependence on assistance.
[13] Second, the development of temporary forms of work such as internships, seasonal jobs and short term contracts have left many young workers in precarious situations.
With little to no job growth occurring, the unemployment rate among those fresh out of college and at the later end of the 15–24 aged students is approximately 13.2% as of April 2012.
[17] Many countries around the world provide income assistance to support unemployed youths until their labour market and economic conditions improve.
[19] Although this support is strictly related to obligations in terms of active job search and training, it has led to an emerging debate on whether or not it creates dependency among the youth and has a detrimental effect on them.
[20] In September 2014, David Cameron announced that he plans to cut housing and employment benefits for 18- to 21-year-olds by £3,000 to £23,000[21] to reduce dependency on government assistance and redirect funding to targeted programs for increased learning and training opportunities.
[44] Compared to other highly developed and OECD member countries, France displays higher unemployment rates as well as longer duration.
[49] But France has made achievements in increasing higher education amongst its youth, attaining the Europe 2020 target of reducing early school leaving to below 10%.
[50] However, these policies have appeared to return minor results as the country continues to report high youth unemployment rates especially among differing social classes.
First, they are less effective among the youth migrant population who face disconnect from the labour market due to France's employment-centred economy experiencing, on average, unemployment rates that are 4% higher than non-migrant workers.
[61] Similarly to Spain, the percentage of people aged 15–24 excluded from the labour market saw a dramatic rise in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008.
[67] Demographic Divided refers to the economic gain a country can attain when it has a bigger working age population more than a non-working one contributing to the economy.
The Kenyan government continues to make some strides in trying to tackle the high youth unemployment by coming up with various programs under affirmative action.
According to a 2021 report by the ministry of ICT, Innovations and Youth Affairs, 5 per cent of Kenyans (1.3 million) were as at June 2021 working online through the Ajira Digital Program.
This, lingering discrimination, and unequal backgrounds are among the many reasons for the lopsided distribution of unemployment among young white and black South Africans.
[61] This was due to the failed implementation of effective employment policies and the increased segmentation of the labour marked during the economic recession are thought to be the main causes behind such an alarming situation.
[85] The high levels of youth unemployment in the United Kingdom have led some politicians and media commentators to talk of a "lost generation".
In response to difficulties in filling job vacancies, businesses raised wages for teenage workers by 36%, with the average hourly pay reaching $15.68.
Being unemployed for a long period of time in youth has been correlated to decreased happiness, job satisfaction and other mental health issues.
"There is a risk of loss of talent and skills since a great amount of university graduates are unable to find a job and to put their knowledge and capabilities into producing innovation and contributing to economic growth".
Within twelve months, four regimes (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen) in the Arab World fell in the wake of the protests led by young people.
The lack of productive engagement of young people in wider society, underlined by high levels of unemployment and under-employment, only serves to add to this feeling of disenfranchisement.
[95] "In Britain a report by the London School of Economics (LSE), the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Prince's Trust puts the cost of the country's 744,000 unemployed youngsters at £155m ($247m) a week in benefits and lost productivity".
Third, Governments are progressively involving employers and trainers to create a holistic approach to youth unemployment and provide intensive programmes with focus on remedial education, work experience and adult mentoring.
Some countries – among them Switzerland, The Netherlands, Singapore, Austria, Norway and Germany – have been remarkably successful in developing vocational education – and have reduced youth unemployment to as little as half the OECD average.
[107] Three main reasons are usually presented for why vocational education should be a part of political programmes to combat youth unemployment: Foundational skills have also been identified as key to a successful transition to work.
Measures for youth and employment have focused on easing transitions from school or training to work and jobs, as for instance careers information, advice and guidance services.
"[108] When taking into consideration the need to foster competitiveness through innovation and creativity, recent studies have advocated for entrepreneurship as a viable a solution to youth unemployment.
[117] It shows that big companies no longer represent the main sources of employment and that there is a necessity to prepare young people for an entrepreneurship culture.
This alternative is often regarded as a way to empower young people to take their future into their hands: it means investing in teaching them the leadership and management skills they need to become innovators and entrepreneurs.
