EU: new measures to stop the “unacceptable” levels of youth unemployment

Booming unemployment rate among young Europeans.  “High youth unemployment has dramatic consequences for our economies, our societies and above all for young people.  This is why we have to invest in Europe's young people now” said European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor. “The costs of not doing so would be catastrophic.”  Currently, around 5.5 million young people are unemployed and more than 7.5 million young people under aged 15-24 are currently not in employment, education or training (NEETs).  Thus, the youth unemployment rate is over 25 percent in 13 countries; it exceeds 55 percent in Greece and Spain and 30 percent in Italy, Ireland, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary and Slovakia.  Over 30 percent of jobseekers under 25 have been unemployed for more than 12 months: 1.6 million in 2011 versus 0.9 million in 2008.  The overall youth employment rate fell by nearly 5 percentage points in the last four years, i.e. nearly three times as much as the rate for adults.  The chances for a young unemployed person of finding a job are low: only 29.7 % of those aged 15-24 and unemployed in 2010 found a job in 2011, a fall of almost 10 percent in three years.  The extreme difficulty, if not impossibility, of finding a job has a cost: over €150 billion a year according to Eurofound, i.e. over 1.2 percent of the EU’s GDP.  In countries like Bulgarian, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Poland, it amounts to more than 2 percent of GDP.  Besides, the worsening crisis on the employment market could have a scarring effect on a large proportion of an entire generation of youth, with negative consequences on employment, productivity and social cohesion in the medium and long run.