UNEMPLOYMENT

Youth Unemployment

Student: Alexandru Florentina-Izabela

Group: 923
Faculty of International Economic Relations

Contents
1. Introduction
Labor force
Definition of unemployment
Unemployment rate
2. Causes of unemployment
3. Effects of unemployment
4. Types of unemployment
5. Youth unemployment
The hard facts
Consequences of high youth unemployment
6. Youth organisations
Youth Express Network
7.Conclusions
8. Works Cited and Consulted

Introduction
The labor force is the actual number of people available for work. The labor force of a
country includes both the employed and the unemployed.
Unemployment (or joblessness) occurs when people are without work and actively
seeking work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it
is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all
individuals currently in the labor force. During periods of recession, an economy usually
experiences a relatively high unemployment rate.
According to International Labour Organization report, more than 197 million people
globally or 6% of the world's workforce were without a job in 2012.
The problem of unemployment is becoming more and more acute, especially
unemployment in youth because high rates of youth unemployment represent both widespread
personal misfortune for individuals and a lost opportunity for critical national and global
economic development.
The purpose of the project is to show general information about unemployment(
definition, types, causes, effects) and then, focus on youth unemployment and the role of youth
organisations.

Causes of unemployment

The main cause of unemployment in many countries is competition in the labor market,
as there are few employment opportunities. This leads to a situation where for every
available opportunity, there are more than one qualified individuals. This means that
when one gets employment, others will lack employment. Currently increased technology
shifts production from labor intensive to capital intensive. When these machines replace
workers, they lack employment, hence contributes to unemployment.

Effects of unemployment

Unemployment causes social and economic effects, which turn out to be a problem to
society. The poverty index among the unemployed is high since these individuals do not
have a source of income. On the social front, it increases illegal means of earning
livelihoods. In a place where unemployment is on the rise, there will be high cases of
robberies, gambling, prostitution and bribery. This is a reason why unemployment
contributes to social insecurities.
Unemployment increases susceptibility to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of
self-esteem, leading to depression. According to a study published in Social Indicator
Research, even those who tend to be optimistic find it difficult to look on the bright side
of things when unemployed.
During a long period of unemployment, workers can lose their skills, causing a loss of
human capital. Being unemployed can also reduce the life expectancy of workers by
about seven years.

Types of unemployment

There are three primary categories of unemployment that are typically discussed. They
are structural, frictional, and cyclical unemployment.
Structural Unemployment
Structural Unemployment is associated with the mismatch of jobs and workers due to the
lack of skills or simply the wrong area desired for work. Structural unemployment
depends on the social needs of the economy and dynamic changes in the economy.
Frictional Unemployment
Frictional unemployment is the time period between jobs when a worker is searching for,
or transitioning from one job to another. It is sometimes called search unemployment and
can be voluntary based on the circumstances of the unemployed individual.

Cyclical Unemployment
Cyclical, deficient-demand, or Keynesian unemployment, occurs when there is not
enough aggregate demand in the economy to provide jobs for everyone who wants to
work. Demand for most goods and services falls, less production is needed and
consequently fewer workers are needed, wages are sticky and do not fall to meet the
equilibrium level, and mass unemployment results.

Youth unemployment
The hard facts

Youth unemployment rate is more than twice as high as the adult one 23.3 % against
9.3 % in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The chances for a young unemployed person of finding a job are low only 29.7 % of
those aged 15-24 and unemployed in 2010 found a job in 2011.
When young people do work, their jobs tend to be less stable in 2012, 42.0 % of young
employees were working on a temporary contract (four times as much as adults) and 32.0
% part-time (nearly twice the adults rate).
Early leavers from education and training are a high-risk group 55.5% of them are not
employed and within this group about 70% want to work.
Resignation is an increasing concern 12.6 % of inactive youth wanted to work but were
not searching for employment in the third quarter of 2012.
In 2011, 12.9% of young people were neither in employment nor in education or training.

Consequences of high youth unemployment

The issue of high unemployment is detectable across the Europe and with 22.9% of
people under the age of 25 without a job in the EU, the economic and social effects of
youth unemployment should be carefully considered to understand the gravity of the
issue.
Early unemployment has a negative effect not only on the future employability of young
people but also on their self-esteem, their role in the society and can represent a serious
economic burden on state finances.
Being employed is important for young people in order to feel accepted in the society,
thus not having a job can cause economic, cultural and social isolation. Social exclusion,
stress and employment worries can cause mental health problems, such as depression.
Moreover, studies have found that youth unemployment is associated with increase in
drug and alcohol use as well as higher levels of crime among young people.

There is a risk of loss of talent and skills since a great amount of university graduates are
unable to find a job and to put their knowledge and capabilities into producing innovation
and contributing to economic growth.

Youth organisations
The competition for jobs has become much more intense in the past 10 years in
Europe. Whereas previous generations could make a relatively straightforward step from
education to working life, this has become a giant leap for young people today. A key
issue is that many employers demand that young people should be well educated,
competent and mobile, but also that they have previous working experience. This is also
often the case for entry level position.
Youth organisations are important actors in tackling youth unemployment and
claiming for the right of young people. They organise training and non-formal education
that directly help young people to find work as well as standing up for young people in
the political discourse around youth unemployment. Youth organizations also enable
young people to become citizens and play a role in their communities.
Youth organisations, through non-formal education, help to foster and develop soft skills
among young people that many politicians and bussines leaders claim are lacking in this
generation. Non-formal education and projects run by youth organisations help young
people to learn to be committed, show initiative and take responsibility.
Many youth organisations can directly represent youth opinions in the decision-making
processes in employment policy across Europe. Others collect information from young
people on their experiences of the labour market. In some countries such as Ireland,
Spain, Greece, Switzerland and the UK, youth organisations have become a rallying point
for young people to communicate their dissatisfaction with employment policies.

Youth Express Network (YEN)

Youth Express Network is an European youth organisation working on local, regional
and international levels with young people with disadvantaged backgrounds. It gathers 29
organisations in 17 Europeans countries. YEN stands for equal opportunities for all
young people, a tolerant society, human rights, equal access to information for all and
active youth participation. They do training courses for youth and social workers, study
sessions and seminars, publiation of magazines and newsletter, research, cooperative and
cross-border projects.
YEN organises and assists with various seminars, conferences and studies throughout
Europe. The themes of these range from art and social inclusion to internships, and

employment. They are designed with the intention of furthering the goals of greater social
inclusion and mobility for young people. In addition to these activities, the Youth
Express Network also supports exchanges and networking with its member organisation
with the express intent of seeing young people join more European projects and gain
greater access to the world.

Conclusions
This project has shown the different issues around unemployment , especially for
young people. It has also shown the value of non-formal education in preparing young
people for the labour market and role that youth organisations can play and can hopefully
be an inspiration for more ideas in this field.
In my opinion, young people should be properly integrated in the labor market, so
that the negative consequences of youth unemployment are reduced as much as possible.
I believe that employers can adopt different measures for this serious issue: provide
carrer guidance to youth and participate in information systems and programs, engage
with training-to-employment programs for youth, engage with apprenticeship and
experience programs, commit to hiring, training and metoring young people.
As a forecast future evolution for youth unemployment, youth organisations
should continue with their activity, because they have done fantastic work in trying to
push youth unemployment up the political agenda and help young people practically.

Works Cited and Consulted

European Youth Forum (2013), Policy Paper on Youth Unemployment. Adopted by

the Council of Members on 19-20 April 2013, Brussels, COMEM/GA 0166-13-FINAL
http://www.youthforum.org/assets/2013/08/0166-13_PP_Employment_Final.pdf
[Accesed 24.11.2014]

European Youth Forum (2011), Youth Unemployment in Europe: A Call for Change.
Brussels, European Youth Forum
http://issuu.com/yomag/docs/a_call_for_change
[Accesed 24.11.2014]

European Youth Forum (2010), Policy Paper on Young People and Poverty. Adopted
at the General Assembly, 18-20 November 2010, Kyiv, GA 0523-10-FINAL
http://www.youthforum.org/assets/2013/10/0523_10_PP_Young_People_Poverty_FINA
L.pdf
[Accesed 24.11.2014]

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1036&langId=en
[Accesed 24.11.2014]

http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/youth-employment/lang--en/index.htm
[Accesed 24.11.2014]