World Bank says youth unemployment needs urgent global action

Oct 14, 2015 (LBO) – World Bank says reversing the youth employment crisis is a pressing global priority and the socio-economic cost of inaction is high. "Young people account for 40 percent of the world’s population - the largest youth generation in human history - but they are disproportionately affected by unemployment. This is a persistent problem,” said Matt Hobson, coalition manager, Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) - a multistakeholder global coalition established to improve youth access to work opportunities. “Approximately 30 percent of young people are not in employment, training or education, and around the world, young women are worse off. We need to act now, and we need to act together if we are going to realize the significant opportunities presented by this many young people today." The report, entitled Toward Solutions for Youth Employment: A 2015 Baseline Report says one third of the worlds or 1.8 billion young people are currently neither in employment, education or training. Of the one billion more youth that will enter the job market in the next decade, only 40 percent are expected to be able to get jobs that currently exist, the report says. The global economy will need to create 600 million jobs over the next 10 years - five million jobs each month - simply to keep pace with projected youth employment rates. While circumstances differ in various regions, the report adds, the issues remain the same - the world’s youth are unable to find sustainable productive work. This contributes to inequality, spurs social tension, and poses a risk to present and future national and global prosperity and security. “As this report shows, our current responses to youth employment issues are disproportionate and disjointed, and all too often ill informed. Without a renewed sense of purpose and action from us all, our good intentions outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will ultimately wither—and a generation will be lost,” Arup Banerji Chair of the Board of Directors, Solutions for Youth Employment said.