Youth jobless rate falls to 15-year low, says UN labour agency

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The number of young people unemployed globally is at a 15-year low but countries in Asia, the Pacific region and Arab States – and women in particular – “are not seeing the benefits” of this post-COVID economic recovery, the UN labour agency said on Monday.

“Demographic trends, notably the African ‘youthquake’, means [that] creating enough decent jobs will be critical for social justice and the global economy,” added the International Labour Organization (ILO), as it published new data on trends in the worldwide jobs market.

“Millions of young people around the world are blocked in their aspiration for decent work,” the ILO insisted, adding that although global youth unemployment fell to 13 per cent in 2023 – lower than pre-pandemic levels with continued falls expected in 2024 and 2025 – this recovery has been “uneven”.

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“In East Asia (up 4.3 per cent), the Arab States (up one per cent) and South-East Asia and the Pacific (up one per cent), youth unemployment rates have continued to rise,” said Sara Elder, ILO Head of Employment Analyses and Public Policies.

Lack of opportunity

Equally worrying is the finding that more than one in five young people last year were not in employment, education or training – a situation that the ILO calls “NEETs”.

“If you’re a young woman, the challenge to stay in school or get a job is double – two in every three young NEETs are female,” Ms. Elder noted.

Another key development in the youth labour market is that it is now “harder than ever” to find a decent and secure job, according to ILO, which estimated that nearly 65 million young people did not have a job last year. 

Birthright bias

“Most young workers still lack social protection (and) remain in temporary jobs that make it hard for them to get ahead as independent adults,” Ms. Elder continued, adding that only one in four young workers in low-income countries is likely to have a regular and secure job, compared with three in four in wealthier countries.

The pressures of finding work weigh heavily on young people, the UN labour agency found, with two in three saying that they fear losing their job. This is despite the fact that today’s Gen Z job-hunters “are also the most educated youth cohort ever”, the ILO insisted.

“Decent work is a ticket to a better future for young people. And a passport for social justice, inclusion and peace. The time to create the opportunities for a brighter future is now,” Ms. Elder said.

In an appeal to young workers everywhere to call for change and greater work opportunities from their governments, the UN agency underscored ongoing gender bias in the labour market that continues to favour men over women.

It pointed to youth unemployment rates for both young women and young men in 2023 that were “nearly equal” (at 12.9 per cent for young women and 13 per cent for young men) – whereas during the pre-pandemic years the rate for young men was higher. Equally worrying, the ILO noted that in 2023, the global youth NEET rate for young women was more than double that of young men – at 28.1 per cent and 13.1 per cent, respectively.

Millions missing out 

“Opportunities for young people are highly unequal, with many young women, young people, with limited financial means or from any minority background still struggling,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo. “Without equal opportunities to education and decent jobs, millions of young people are missing out on their chances for a better future.”

The ILO chief insisted that “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”.

On-trend

Here are some of the long-term trends in the labour market for younger workers highlighted in ILO’s  Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024 report:

• There are not enough high-skill jobs for the supply of educated youth, especially in middle-income countries;
• Growth in “modern” services and in manufacturing jobs for youth has been limited;
• Keeping skills development on pace with evolving demands for green and digital skills will be critical to reducing education mismatches.