More jobs opportunities and better skills needed to ensure that young people benefit from the ongoing recovery
The initial experience in the labour market has a profound influence on later working life. Getting off to a good start facilitates youth integration into the world of work and lays the foundation for a good career, while it can be difficult to catch up after an initial failure. This publication analyses the situation of youth employment and unemployment in the context of the jobs crisis and beyond and identifies successful policy measures in OECD countries.
Youth unemployment increased more than twice that of adults and it is expected to remain high in 2011 and 2012
Based on the most recent OECD economic projections, youth unemployment rates are expected to be around 18% in 2011 and 17% in 2012 after a very slow decline in 2010.
Even more worrying, the number of young people disconnected from education and the labour market is on the rise
By mid-2010 in the 26 countries for which data are available, 12.5% of youth aged 15-24 was neither in education nor in employment or training (so-called NEET), up from 10.8% in 2008. This represents 16.7 million young people, 6.7 million are seeking work and 10 million have given up looking.
Two groups face persistent difficulties in getting a stable job after leaving school
Even before the global crisis, the transition from school to work was bumpy for many young people. In Europe in 2005-07, almost one in five youth aged 15-29 had significant difficulty in integrating in the labour market: 55% of them were NEET and 45% could not find a stable job after having started two years earlier on a temporary contract.
High-Level Forum
Jobs for Youth
The High-Level Policy Forum on Jobs for Youth: Addressing Policy Challenges in OECD Countries, discussed what decisive actions governments should take to improve job prospects for young people.
The OECD launched in 2006 a review on Jobs for Youth in 16 countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States). Click here to go to the Jobs for Youth page.
Further reading
Video
Working PaperRising youth unemployment during the crisis: how to prevent negative long-term consequences on a generation? by Stefano Scarpetta, Anne Sonnet and Thomas Manfredi.
Stefano Scarpetta, Deputy Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, explains what governments should do to avoid a lost generation of jobless young people
The country reports were published in the following order: in 2007: Belgium, Spain, the Slovak Republic and Korea; in 2008: Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, Norway and Japan; in 2009, Australia, France, Poland and United States; and in 2010 Denmark and Greece. The reports are published in English or French only. However a French or an English translation of the Executive Summary and Recommendations has been included in the volumes.
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