SENTINEL WATCH November 15, 2010 Issue

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT: NOT A FIXED FACT

ANNETTE KREUTZIGER-HERR

ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION, a United Nations Agency based in Geneva, youth unemployment has reached a new high and is expected to increase in 2010. About 81 million individuals aged 15 to 24 were unemployed at the end of 2009, which represents 13 percent of young people worldwide.

As the report states, this group has been hit harder than adults during the financial crisis. It's projected that their ability to move out of unemployment, and later on to a meaningful job, has been diluted. Also, in some countries many young people are so discouraged they have given up the job hunt altogether.

This high unemployment rate has "the potential to create a 'lost generation' comprised of young people who have dropped out of the labor market, having lost all hope of being able to work for a decent living" ("Global Youth Unemployment Reaches New High," The New York Times, August 11, 2010).