The Youth Employment Crisis

1. The Youth Employment Crisis Time for Action

2. International Labour Organisation (ILO) • Founded in 1919; HQ in Geneva and over 50 Field Offices • Tripartite: employers, workers and governments • Members: 184 countries /regional coordination in ILO (such as EU) • Mandate: • world of work in all its dimensions • updated in 2008: social justice for a fair globalisation/ decent work • Activities: • Standard setting and supervision: up to date conventions and recommendations • Policy frameworks (e.g. ILO Global Jobs Pact 2009, Youth employment 2005, Sustainable Enterprises) • Analyses, research and advice • Technical cooperation and training including capacity building • Cooperation with EU since 1958 and intensified since 2003 • EU supports decent work • All EU 27 have ratified core labour standards conventions as well as many up to date conventions • globalisation, G8 and G20, development, trade • EU enlargement, neighbourhood • EU internal policies • Financial, economic and social crisis

3. Give young people multiple pathways to decent work • The 2005 ILC Resolution concerning youth employment called for an approach that combines macroeconomic and microeconomic interventions, addresses both labour demand and supply, both the quantity and the quality of employment

4. Youth Employment A top national priority but not sufficiently translated into action • ILO review shows: • Few comprehensive policy frameworks with clear and coherent set of policy priorities • Funding allocated is limited and resources underestimated • Most interventions focus on the supply side, while sluggish demand is a major constraint • Stronger policy coherence and coordination required

5. Global Youth unemployment and unemployment rate - 2005 to 2012

6. Youth unemployment rate by region1991 to 2011

7. An unprecedented youth employment crisis… • In 2012… • 75 million young people are unemployed worldwide • Globally young people are on average nearly three times more likely than adults to be unemployed • Four out of every ten unemployed worldwide is a young women or man • But youth are not equally affected: some are more disadvantaged than others (socio-economic background, education and skills, disabilities, regional differences, …)

8. ….Unemployment is only the tip of the iceberg • Inequalities, insecurity and vulnerability are rising • Quality of jobs available for youth is declining • Underemployment and poverty for youth is on the rise • Young workers are disproportionately represented in low-paid work • Young workers disproportionately concentrated in the informal economy • Temporary employment and lack of permanent employment for youth is rising • More insecure and slower transition from school to work • Discouragement and detachment from the labour market • NEETS (not in employment, education or training)

9. What are policies that have worked ? • Policy coherence and coordination: • do not destroy or weaken coordination systems (e.g. social dialogue) • labour markets, training and education, social and economic policies • Appropriate macroeconomic policies • Maintain public and private investment on employment policies for youth • Better linking education, training and world of work/ quality apprenticeship • Active Labour market policies with effective employment services • Do not exclude youth from social protection - targeted support by authorities • Youth entrepreneurship • importance of enabling environment and also social protection • support for youth entrepreneurs by broad range of services • support in partnership with private sector Involvement of social partners in policy design and implementation Promote collective bargaining on youth employment issues Monitoring and evaluation systems with capacity to allocate funds to what works

10. Active Labour Market Policies: What works for youth? • Active Labour Market Policies work better when: • A package of services is provided integrating and sequencing various components • They are targeted and tailored to the needs of disadvantaged youth and labour market opportunities • Well-designed wage subsidies or government contribution to social security can help if targeted at disadvantaged youth • Employment services can play a key role in easing the school-to-work transition, but may lack technical capacity and financial resources • Involvement social partners in policy design and implementation • Monitoring and evaluation systems and adjustments when required

11. Better links between education, training and the world of work • Make TVET relevant to labour market needs • Increase quality, financing and management • Ensure coordination across various institutions and actors • Improve monitoring and evaluation

12. Thank you and for more information see • www.ilo.org • www.ilo.org/brussels • http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/youth-employment/lang--en/index.htm • http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/press-and-media-centre/news/WCMS_181886/lang--en/index.htm