Unemployment and lost hope
The continuing global economic crisis has hit young people especially hard. The ILO’s report on Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012 demonstrates increasing uncertainty in the labour market for young people. There are 75 million youth aged 15 to 24 who are unemployed, an increase of 4 million since 2007. In addition, the economic crisis has caused another 6.4 million young people to withdraw from the labour force, giving up the struggle to find jobs that don’t exist. This trend is particularly pronounced in the developed economies and the European Union.
For many, the only jobs they can find are in precarious conditions, with little job security and low pay. More than 150 million young people are living on less than $1.25 a day.
Indeed, the economic crisis has wiped out the opportunity for young people to make gains in employment, not just now but in years ahead. Long term unemployment affects both their skills and their future earning potential.
Political commitment and innovative approaches are needed to address the youth unemployment and jobs crisis.
“It is not so much joblessness as hopelessness that threatens our future,” said Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition political leader and Nobel Prize recipient, during her landmark speech to the International Labour Conference in Geneva on 14 June. Continue reading
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