ECONOMICS ESSAY

Some of these youths do not work for cultural reasons (75.2 M South Asian women) while others choose not to work especially in the rich world but a large number lack job opportunities especially in the developing countries. A fifth of these youth become unpaid laborers or end up working in the informal sector hence half of the world’s youth are contributing less effectively in the labour market. There are multiple causes of youth unemployment which include relevance and quality of education, inflexibility of the labour market and its regulations which cause dependency (Goldstein, F. 2012 P. 32).

The first root of youth unemployment is attached to poor quality and irrelevance of education with Tunisia posing a good example where 40% of its unemployed youth are graduates against 24% of non-graduates. Education no longer guarantees a good job since it is less tailored to the needs of the job market and this leads to employers lacking personnel with required skills and hence preferring some of the uneducated but have gained experience over time and relevant skills in the labour market and the youth are left jobless.

Labour market institutions, regulations and policies play a key role in promotion of labour demands and in support of the transition from education to the working environment. Employment protection regulations have dire negative effects on the youth seeking employment since it protects them from being fired during an economic downturn. This discourages employers from employing them and these has led many youths to unpaid unemployment with employers softly referring to them as internships where they perform grunt-work rather than learning key knowledge and skills (International Labour Organization, 2010 Pg.21).

A “lost generation” has been borne out of this crisis leading to the “full-nest syndrome” where youths live with their parents and depend on them up to their late twenties and some to their thirties which is a worrying trend. The other members of the family start looking for opportunities for them leading to the added work effect to relatives and mental risks to the youth and decreased happiness, community isolation and marginalization from the labour market which progressively leads to an anti-social behavior (Goldstein, F. 2012 P. 56).

The youth are rising up to the challenge to respond to this issue by sharpening their entrepreneurial skills through creativity and innovation hence becoming self-employment and creating opportunities for friends and relatives. This requires a favorable government touch through placement of right structures and better administrative processes. The government could also invest more on empowering the youth through investing more on training on leadership and managerial skills required by innovators. Flexible labour markets, target tax and incentives are key in the support of the young entrepreneurs in scaling up their businesses.

Redefining the education system to incorporate vocational training which is geared towards addressing the skills crisis could in a way combat the unemployment problem. Vocational training has reduced unemployment by 15% and increased wages in some countries which have it incorporated in their curriculum. This has also improved employers productivity and has been proven to have significant social benefits like improved incomes, health standards, community inclusion and reduced crime rates. Acquisition of foundational skills through this training has been key in the transition from school to work and therefore vocational training programs incorporation could reduce unemployment across the globe by 33%.

Balancing employment protection policies between the temporally and permanent employees could fight informal employment. This means the young will not be barred from the job market by lack of experience but are given an opportunity to acquire skills and abilities progressively. This will also trigger equal treatment of both temporally and permanent workers and employers are creating a more holistic approach to youth unemployment and are engaging in providing intensive remedial training and funding apprenticeship rather than direct financial aid in addressing the problem (Crumpton, M., & Bloomberg 2013, Pg. 66).

Social media is a reliable platform to create awareness of this menace for cross-sector collaboration in tackling the problem through creation of online platforms and job applications. The internet offers numerous opportunities to the unemployed with social networks like linkedin, Facebook, twitter, wats up, Aboutme among others offering job opportunities and networking. Applications are coming up designed to match the job seeker with potential employers and sites like career point, Brighter Monday and Advanced search being created for easy access of job opportunities across the world (Goldstein, F. 2012 Pg, 58).

The effects of youth unemployment are far much felt in the economic sector as well as the social life as they persist over years. Substantial economic losses are faced in welfare payments and experience accumulation with mismatch of careers and opportunities leading to a productivity trajectory that is far much below what the employee expected. In 2011, an equivalent of 1.2% of GDP in Europe was lost as a result of youth unemployment. To address the issue, investment on training programs is being adopted to accommodate a group that could have been left out of the labour market (Goldstein, F. 2012 Pg. 98).

Youth unemployment has dire negative impacts on the present and future of both the economy and the society. Financial costs associated the unemployed are on the rise as many governments pay them some benefits and the longer they stay without getting employed, the much more the economy shell out due to lost incomes, reduced productivity and additional costs. The spending power of the unemployed is reduced as they prefer to save the little they get and this adversely affects the economy. Increased taxes and job insecurity could also reduce the consumers spending power which is a negative blow to the economy

Recessions are suffered by the economy as a result of effects on other significant factors affecting the economy like health costs and quality, income per citizen, poverty levels and general standards of living. Unemployment negatively affects these factors reducing the quality of life and the entire systems of productivity. Different approaches have been developed to resolve the issue and one of them is raising taxes and using the proceeds to subsidize employing the yet unemployed though this like the rest has its negative effects on the productivity of the economy (Scarpetta, S., Manfredi, T., & Sonnet, A. 2010 Pg. 45).

Youth unemployment largely affects the society by creating dilemmas as it is connected largely with the social issues, stigma, health, standards of living among other important aspects of life. This problem has created other problems and made other existing ones much worse hence risking the welfare of the society. Mental health problems like depression, lack of hope and feeling worthless as a result of low self-esteem and confidence could be a result of lost income and frustrations in job search that may create a negative perspective about everything in life.

Health diseases drastically could increase as a result of unemployment tension and depression and it could also lead to frequent disagreements and domestic quarrels opening loopholes for divorce and separations. Social outing could also be adversely affected as the unemployed avoid social gatherings and interactions with friends and family for fear of being questioned on the same or generally feeling inadequate and unfit for the same.

Crime rate and violence is on the rise as the unemployed look for means of survival and this increases insecurity amongst the employed since they become prey and their families too are at risk as crime rates upsurge. Employment gaps also become wider as the longer one becomes unemployed the more difficult it becomes to access one and employers term this as a negative effect and this creates stigma and the disgrace one has to bear as a result of being out of work for a longer period of time (Hughes, D., Borbély-Pecze, T. B., & ELGPN, 2012, Pg. 79).

Suicide cases both attempts and actual are associated with lack of personal worth and this is on the rise. This could be as a result of lose of skills usage where an individual lacks the opportunity to put their skills into practice and the longer it takes, the higher the chances of losing some of those hard earned skills (International Labour Conference, & International Labour Office. 2012).

Unemployment is a real wound in the society that requires urgent attention and vigilance of each member of the society for the betterment of the society, economy and the youth al large. Political unrests and tensions by taxpayers over tax rise as the government tries to meet the demands of the unemployment fund could be combated as this problem is addressed. improved of the standards of living could also be enjoyed as a result of secure environment and increased incomes as competition for jobs decrease and negotiation power increase.

References

International Labour Conference, & International Labour Office. (2012). The youth employment crisis: Time for action. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Scarpetta, S., Manfredi, T., & Sonnet, A. (2010). Rising youth unemployment during the crisis: How to prevent negative long-term consequences on a generation?. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Dir. for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee

Rising Youth Unemployment During The Crisis. (2010). Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified.

Crumpton, M., & Bloomberg News (Firm). (2013). How to fix the youth unemployment crisis. New York: Bloomberg.

International Labour Organization. (2010). Global employment trends for youth, August 2010: Special issue on the impact of the global economic crisis on youth. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Hughes, D., Borbély-Pecze, T. B., & European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN). (2012). Youth unemployment: A crisis in our midst ; the role of lifelong guidance policies in addressing labour supply and demand. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.

Goldstein, F. (2012). Capitalism at a dead end: Job destruction, overproduction and crisis in the high-tech era - a marxist view. New York City, NY: World View Forum.