Generation jobless The number of young people out of work globally is nearly as big as the population of the United

States
YOUNG people ought not to be idle. It is very bad for them, said argaret !hat"her in #$%&. 'he (as right) there are fe( (orse things that so"iety "an do to its young than to leave them in limbo. !hose (ho start their "areers on the dole are more li*ely to have lo(er (ages and more spells of joblessness later in life, be"ause they lose out on the "han"e to a"+uire s*ills and self,"onfiden"e in their formative years. Yet more young people are idle than ever. O-./ figures suggest that 01m #2, to 0&,year,olds in developed "ountries are not in employment, edu"ation or training3 the number of young people (ithout a job has risen by 456 sin"e 0557. !he International 8abour Organisation reports that 72m young people globally are loo*ing for a job. 9orld :an* surveys suggest that 010m young people in emerging mar*ets are e"onomi"ally ina"tive. /epending on ho( you measure them, the number of young people (ithout a job is nearly as large as the population of ;meri"a <4##m=. !(o fa"tors play a big part. >irst, the long slo(do(n in the 9est has redu"ed demand for labour, and it is easier to put off hiring young people than it is to fire older (or*ers. 'e"ond, in emerging e"onomies population gro(th is fastest in "ountries (ith dysfun"tional labour mar*ets, su"h as India and -gypt. !he result is an ar" of unemployment, from southern -urope through north ;fri"a and the iddle -ast to 'outh ;sia, (here the ri"h (orld?s re"ession meets the poor (orld?s youth+ua*e. !he anger of the young jobless has already burst onto the streets in the iddle -ast. @iolent "rime, generally in de"line in the ri"h (orld, is rising in 'pain, Italy and AortugalB"ountries (ith startlingly high youth unemployment.

Will growth give them a job? !he most obvious (ay to ta"*le this problem is to reignite gro(th. !hat is easier said than done in a (orld plagued by debt, and is any(ay only a partial ans(er. !he "ountries (here the problem is (orst <su"h as 'pain and -gypt= suffered from high youth unemployment even (hen their e"onomies (ere gro(ing. !hroughout the re"ession "ompanies have "ontinued to "omplain that they "annot find young people (ith the right s*ills. !his underlines the importan"e of t(o other solutions) reforming labour mar*ets and improving edu"ation. !hese are familiar pres"riptions, but ones that need to be delivered (ith both a ne( vigour and a ne( t(ist. Youth unemployment is often at its (orst in "ountries (ith rigid labour mar*ets. .artelised industries, high taCes on hiring, stri"t rules about firing, high minimum (ages) all these help "ondemn young people to the street "orner. 'outh ;fri"a has some of the highest unemployment south of the 'ahara, in part be"ause it has po(erful trade unions and rigid rules about hiring and firing. any "ountries in the ar" of youth unemployment have high minimum (ages and heavy taCes on labour. India has around 055 la(s on (or* and pay. /eregulating labour mar*ets is thus "entral to ta"*ling youth unemployment. :ut it (ill not be enough on its o(n. :ritain has a fleCible labour mar*et and high youth unemployment. In "ountries (ith better re"ords, governments tend to ta*e a more a"tive role in finding jobs for those (ho are struggling. Germany, (hi"h has the se"ond,lo(est level of youth unemployment in the ri"h (orld, pays a proportion of the (ages of the long,term unemployed for the first t(o years. !he Nordi" "ountries provide young people (ith personalised plans to get them into employment or training. :ut these poli"ies are too eCpensive to reprodu"e in southern -urope, (ith their millions of unemployed, let alone the emerging (orld. ; "heaper approa"h is to reform labour,hungry bits of the e"onomyBfor eCample, by ma*ing it easier for small businesses to get li"en"es, or "onstru"tion "ompanies to get approval for proje"ts, or shops to stay open in the evening. The graduate glut ;"ross the O-./, people (ho left s"hool at the earliest opportunity are t(i"e as li*ely to be unemployed as university graduates. :ut it is un(ise to "on"lude that governments should simply "ontinue (ith the established poli"y of boosting the number of people (ho graduate from university. In both :ritain and the United 'tates many people (ith eCpensive liberal,arts degrees are finding it impossible to get de"ent jobs. In north ;fri"a university graduates are t(i"e as li*ely to be unemployed as non,graduates. 9hat matters is not just number of years of edu"ation people get, but its "ontent. !his means eCpanding the study of s"ien"e and te"hnology and "losing the gap bet(een the (orld of edu"ation and the (orld of (or*Bfor eCample by upgrading vo"ational and te"hni"al edu"ation and by forging "loser relations bet(een "ompanies and s"hools. Germany?s long,established system of vo"ational s"hooling and apprenti"eships does just that. Other "ountries are follo(ing suit) 'outh Dorea has introdu"ed meister s"hools, 'ingapore has boosted te"hni"al "olleges, and :ritain is eCpanding apprenti"eships and trying to improve te"hni"al edu"ation. .losing the gap (ill also re+uire a "hange of attitude from business. 'ome "ompanies, ranging from I: and Eolls,Eoy"e to "/onald?s and Aremier Inn, are revamping their training programmes, but the fear that employees (ill be poa"hed dis"ourages firms from investing in the young. !here are (ays of getting around the problem) groups of employers "an "o, operate (ith "olleges to design training "ourses, for eCample. !e"hnology is also redu"ing the "ost of training) programmes designed around "omputer games "an give youngsters some virtual eCperien"e, and online "ourses "an help apprenti"es "ombine on,the,job training (ith a"ademi" instru"tion.

!he problem of youth unemployment has been getting (orse for several years. :ut there are at last some reasons for hope. Governments are trying to address the mismat"h bet(een edu"ation and the labour mar*et. .ompanies are beginning to ta*e more responsibility for investing in the young. ;nd te"hnology is helping demo"ratise edu"ation and training. !he (orld has a real "han"e of introdu"ing an edu"ation,and,training revolution (orthy of the s"ale of the problem.