Employment for Youth – A Growing Challenge for the Global Community

Social and economic challenges facing young people today must be understood in terms of the complex interaction between unique demographic trends and specific economic contexts. There has been an unprecedented growth in the number of young people in the Global South in the past two decades, and these youth face situations where the forces of economic globalization interact with historically determined national and regional economic structures and policies. Although we will argue that unemployment is only a partial measure of employment inadequacy for youth, especially in poor countries, its ready availability and widespread use make it an important starting point. Globally, the ILO estimates that the number of unemployed youth is on the rise again since 2011, after declining somewhat from the peak it reached at the height of the global financial crisis. It is expected to reach 73.4 million young people by 2013 (ILO 2012). The global youth unemployment rate has also been rising since 2011; it is currently estimated at 12.6 percent and is projected to increase to 12.8 percent by 2018. In contrast, the global adult unemployment rate, while also rising slightly, is much lower at 4.6 percent in 2013 (ILO 2012).