Youth Unemployment Line Circles the Globe

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from In These Times:




Youth Unemployment Line Circles the Globe

Wednesday
August 18
9:36 am

By Michelle Chen


There's an unemployment line circling the globe that's about 80 million people long, stretching far into the next generation.

The International Labor Organization reports that the youth unemployment rate around the world edged up to a record high of 13 percent in 2009, more than one percentage point up since 2007.

Remarkably, relatively "advanced" economies have seen some of the biggest jumps in youth unemployment. Across the Developed Economies and European Union countries, close to 18 percent of youth are unemployed. Spain and the United Kingdom show high rates of "discouragement" among young workers slipping out of the workforce altogether, just as their governments embark on fiscal tightening programs that could shed yet more jobs.

According to the ILO report:

Youth unemployment rates increased by 4.6 percentage points in Developed Economies & the European Union between 2008 and 2009 and by 3.5 points in Central & South-Eastern Europe (non-EU) & (Commonwealth of Independent States). These are the largest annual increases in youth unemployment rates ever recorded in any region.

While an unemployment crisis is swelling among American youth, especially youth of color, countless young people in poorer nations are far more desperate for any work they can get in hopes of staving off destitution. The ILO notes that "in developing economies, where 90 per cent of young people live, youth are more vulnerable to underemployment and poverty." Luckier young workers will see wages and hours cut. Those seeking scarce jobs will be pushed toward precarious, informal-sector, rather than work that provides a career path or at least a steady paycheck. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6349/youth_unemployment_line_circles_the_globe/