Global Youth Unemployment – To rise slightly in 2017 with 21.8 per cent of young people neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) ILO says

There has been a modest economic recovery, though youth unemployment remains high and employment quality a concern.

The global economic outlook for 2017 and 2018 is positive and growth is projected to accelerate modestly due to moderate pickups in investment and trade, mainly led by advanced economies. However, job growth does not always accompany economic recovery, a situation which a ects, especially, young people who are entering the job market in record numbers.

Thee global youth unemployment rate is expected to rise slightly in 2017, reaching 13.1 per cent, although the expected 70.9 million young unemployed is well below the crisis peak of 76.7 million in 2009. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the youth unemployment rate is expected to continue increasing, while European youth will see further improvement in unemployment, both trends being present since 2013. Youth unemployment rates are likely to remain stable in sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern and Southern Asia. Unemployment rates will increase slightly in other parts of Asia and the Paci c and Northern America while falling slightly in Northern Africa and the Arab States. Despite this improvement, the Arab States (closely followed by Northern Africa) continues to be the region with the highest youth unemployment rate at 30.0 per cent in 2017.
Youth are three times as likely as adults to be unemployed. Globally, the ratio of youth to adult unemployment rates has changed very little in recent years, serving to illustrate the particularly disadvantaged situation of young people in the labour market.

When young women and men do find employment, quality remains a concern.

Many young women and men are out of the labour market for reasons other than education.

An estimated 21.8 per cent of young people are neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET), most of them female. Male NEET rates are lowest in developing countries at 8.0 per cent, followed by emerging countries at 9.6 per cent, and developed countries at 11.3 per cent. NEET rates are lower in developing countries where, in the absence of social protection mechanisms, people cannot a ord not to work, even if such work is vulnerable and does not provide adequate earnings. Regionally, male NEET rates are lowest in Eastern Asia at 3.7 per cent, followed by Southern Asia at 5.8 per cent. Rates are highest in Northern Africa at 16.7 per cent, followed by Central and Western Asia at 14.8 per cent.
Female NEET rates are much higher. Globally, the female NEET rate is 34.4 per cent, compared to 9.8 per cent for males. Young women comprise three out of every four young NEETs, and the disparity is greatest amongst emerging countries where four out of ve young NEETs are female. In Southern Asia, in particular, nine out of ten young NEETs are women.

The high NEET rates in emerging and developing countries are driven by the large num- bers of young men and, above-all, young women, who are inactive and thus do not participate either in the labour force or in education. is contrasts with developed countries where around half of NEETs are unemployed, but available and looking for employment.

Reducing youth NEET rates is one of the primary targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under Goal 8 on “Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. However, given the huge gender disparity in emerging and developing countries, the goal of reducing the youth NEET rate is also directly linked to SDG 4, “Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, and SDG 5, “Achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls” (see box 1.1).

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Report: Global Employment Trends for Youth 2017: Paths to a better working future