"Giving young people the skills and tools to find a job is not only good for their own prospects and self-esteem, it is also good for economic growth, social cohesion and widespread well-being. That’s why investing in youth must be a policy priority the world over."OECD Secretary-General |
ISSUES
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT More must be done to provide youth with the skills and help they need to get a better start in the labour market and progress in their career. Sharp increases in youth unemployment and underemployment have built upon long-standing structural obstacles that prevent many youth in both OECD countries and emerging economies from making a successful transition from school to work. Key elements of the OECD Action Plan for Youth
Read more about The OECD Action Plan for Youth - Giving Youth a Better Start
Fostering youth employability re-quires a comprehensive and forward-looking skill strategy; however efforts to achieve a better match between the skills youth acquire at school and those needed in the labour market may not per se be sufficient to improve labour market prospects for all youth.
40% of youth indicate an interest in self-employment and governments have a substantial number of programmes in place to help them start businesses. And while youth entrepreneurship is unlikely to be a panacea for solving the youth unemployment problem, it can be a part of the response. Read a Policy brief on Youth Entrepreneurship
Financial literacy is a core life skill for participating in modern society. Children are growing up in an increasingly complex world where they will eventually need to take charge of their own financial future. Read about our work on Financial education in schools
Results have shown that in 17 out of 30 OECD countries, young people express less trust in governments than the 50+ generation. While youth participation through the official channels appear to be on the decline, young people often lead initiatives to address the global challenges of our times, including climate change and raising inequalities. These challenges have raised questions about inter-generational justice and the future young people will be faced with. How can governments and public administrations deliver better policies and services for young people and acknowledge new forms of youth participation? The OECD identifies five public governance pillars for policy makers to act upon youth’s concerns:
Read about our work on Youth engagement and empowerment |
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