By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Aug. 20, GNA – The Global Labour Markey outlook for young people has improved in the last four years, and the upward trend is expected to continue for the next two years.
This was contained in a new International Labour orgnaisation (ILO) report, titled Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024.
The report, however, advised that the number of 15 to 24-year-olds who were not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) was concerning, and that the post-COVID 19 pandemic employment recovery had not been universal.t been universal.
According to the report, young people in particular regions, including many young women, are not benefiting from the economic rebound.
The 2023 youth unemployment rate of 13 per cent, equivalent to 64.9 million people, represented a 15-year low and a decline from the pre-pandemic figure of 13.8 per cent in 2019.
It was expected to fall further to 12.8 per cent this year and next, but the picture varied by location.
Youth unemployment rates in the Arab States, East Asia, South-East Asia, and the Pacific increased in 2023 compared to 2019.
It was noted that too many young people worldwide were not in employment, education and training NEET, and opportunities to find decent jobs remained scarce in emerging and developing nations.
The report said one in every five young people, or 20.4 per cent were not in employment, education or in training in 2023, with females accounting for two-thirds of that demography.
For working-age youths, the report noted a lack of progress in gaining decent jobs.
More than half of young workers worldwide are in informal employment; only high and upper-middle-income economies have many youths in regular, secure jobs.
“And three in four young workers in low-income countries will get only a self-employed or temporary paid job,” it said.
The report cautioned that the continuing high NEET rates and insufficient growth of decent jobs were causing anxiety among the youth, who were also the most educated youth cohort ever.
The report found that young men had benefited more from the labour market recovery than young women.
The youth unemployment rates of young women and young men in 2023 were nearly equal (at 12.9 per cent for young women and 13 per cent for young men), unlike the pre-pandemic years when the rate for young men was higher.
It said the global youth NEET rate of young women doubled that of young men (at 28.1 per cent and 13.1 per cent, respectively) in 2023.
The ILO report emphasized the importance of building the foundations of decent work to alleviate young people’s concerns about the workplace and sustain their hope for a better future.
It called for increased and more effective investment, including in boosting job creation with a specific target on jobs for young women, strengthening the institutions that support young people through their labour market transitions including young NEETs.
The report also advocated for the integration of youth employment and social protection, and the reduction of global inequality through improved international cooperation, public-private partnerships, and development financing.
“None of us can look forward to a stable future when millions of young people around the world do not have decent work and as a result, are feeling insecure and unable to build a better life for themselves and their families,” Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, ILO Director-General said.
He stated that peaceful societies are built on three essential ingredients: stability, inclusion, and social justice, with decent jobs for the youth at the center of all three.
“The report reminds us of that opportunities for young people are highly unequal; with many young women, young people with limited financial means or from any minority background still struggling. Without equal opportunities to education and decent jobs, millions of young people are missing out on their chances for a better future,” Mr. Houngbo said.
GNA