Unemployed youth worldwide equals Thailand’s population

THE YOUTH unemployment rate worldwide is creeping back up to a 20-year peak, with 71 million out of jobs. To put that in perspective, that is more than the entire population of Thailand.

One would have to go to the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the founding of the European Union (EU), or 2013 to remember a worse time to be leaving school in search of work. These are just some of the troubling findings of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in its annual “World Employment and Social Outlook for Youth” report that shines a spotlight on those aged between 15 and 24.

The outlook is grim even for those with jobs. About 156 million working youth in the emerging and developing world live on less than $3.10 a day. It’s this demographic, youngsters in search of a better life, that is a big driver of international migration.

Problem is that the richer nations they are seeking to settle in are bedeviled with unemployment woes of their own. About 9.8 million young people in highincome economies were jobless last year, bringing the youth unemployment rate to 14.5%, higher than middle- and low- income economies, the Geneva- based United Nations agency said in its 2016 report.

This does not reflect more favorable labor market conditions in the developing world.

“Instead, it indicates that young people in these countries must often work, typically in poor-quality and low-paid jobs, in order to provide the basic necessities of life for themselves and their families,’’ the 48-page the report said.

More than two out of every 10 were unemployed youth in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states were out of work for over a year in 2015, with almost a third of unemployed youth in the 28-nation EU having been jobless more than a year, the ILO said. — Bloomberg