On 11 August 2004, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) issued a study entitled Global employment trends for youth 2004 [1], which found that nearly half the unemployed people in the world are between the ages of 15 and 24. It states that, while young people represent 25% of the working age population between the ages of 15 and 64, they comprised up to 47% of the total of 186 million people out of work worldwide in 2003. Further, young people represent some 130 million of the world’s 550 million 'working poor' who, despite their work, are unable to lift themselves and their families above the poverty level of the equivalent of USD 1 per day. They also often perform work under unsatisfactory conditions in the informal economy. The study puts the global youth unemployment rate at 14.4% in 2003, a 26.8% increase in the total number of young unemployed people over the past decade.[1] http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/getyen.pdf
An ILO study issued in August 2004 found that nearly half the unemployed people in the world are between the ages of 15 and 24. It also found that young people represent a significant proportion of the world’s working poor.
On 11 August 2004, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) issued a study entitled Global employment trends for youth 2004, which found that nearly half the unemployed people in the world are between the ages of 15 and 24. It states that, while young people represent 25% of the working age population between the ages of 15 and 64, they comprised up to 47% of the total of 186 million people out of work worldwide in 2003. Further, young people represent some 130 million of the world’s 550 million 'working poor' who, despite their work, are unable to lift themselves and their families above the poverty level of the equivalent of USD 1 per day. They also often perform work under unsatisfactory conditions in the informal economy. The study puts the global youth unemployment rate at 14.4% in 2003, a 26.8% increase in the total number of young unemployed people over the past decade.
The study therefore stresses that 'tackling youth unemployment and the consequent vulnerabilities and feelings of exclusion would be a significant contribution to the global economy'. It asserts that cutting the figure by half would add at least USD 2.2 trillion to global GDP, which is equivalent to around 4% of global GDP for 2003. The report points out that people who get a good start to their working life are less likely to experience prolonged unemployment later.
The study also found that young women are especially hard hit by unemployment, and that youth unemployment rates in 2003 were highest in the Middle East and North Africa, at 25.6%. The only regions where youth unemployment has decreased are the industrialised economies, where it fell from 15.4% in 1993 to 13.4% in 2003.
Commenting on the launch of the report, the ILO director-general, Juan Somavia, said: 'We are wasting an important part of the energy and talent of the most educated youth generation the world has ever had.'. He continued: 'Enlarging the chances of young people to find and keep decent work is absolutely critical to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.' These goals, to be achieved by 2015, encompass targets in areas such as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equality.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2004), Worldwide youth unemployment at record high, article.
