Eurozone crisis scars our youth says bank chief

THE eurozone crisis has disproportionately hit young people and poses a threat to ‘social cohesion’ and democracy, its top banker warned yesterday.

The president of the European Central Bank said the sky-high levels of youth unemployment crippling parts of the single currency bloc carry ‘high costs for our societies’.

Fuelling fears that the eurozone faces a lost generation who may never find meaningful work, Mario Draghi warned of the ‘scarring effects’ of unemployment among the young.

Despite signs the economy is recovering, unemployment in the single currency bloc is stubbornly high at 9.1 per cent, more than double the 4.3 per cent rate in Britain. Unemployment among under-25s is 19.1 per cent, although it is as high as 44.4 per cent in Greece and 38.6 per cent in Spain.

In a speech in Dublin, Mr Draghi, 70, said: ‘In several countries the weight of the crisis has fallen disproportionately on the young, leaving a legacy of failed hopes, anger and ultimately mistrust in the values of our society and in the identity of our democracy.’

He added that protracted periods of unemployment was ‘scarring’ and ‘has negative effects not only on life satisfaction, but also on health, and may persist well into later life’.