Youth Unemployment

When a university in South Africa opened its gates for the first time, it caused a big commotion. The unemployment rate for youth in South Africa is seventy percent. With the number being so large, a college education is vital if a young person wants to get a job or even be relevant in the job market. When the university opened, people had been waiting, and the line stretched over a mile. When they were let in, the surge of people was so violent that a woman was trampled to death and several others were severely injured. Incidents have occurred in many other countries around the world pertaining to youth unemployment.

The rate of unemployment in the youth of the world today is a very high levels and is causing a major international problem. Survival and social problems are forefront in a lot of people’s minds, and the issue is very pressing in today’s world. In 2011, the average rate of unemployment for people between the ages 15 and 24 was at 12.6 percent throughout the world. Some countries had a much higher percentage individually. The rate of unemployment in youths was almost double the overall rate of the level of people without jobs. For example, Spain and Greece had unemployment rates of over 50 percent, Europe had a rate of 20.9 percent, the Middle East and North Africa had rates around 30 percent, and the United States had the lowest rate, which was only 18.4 percent.

The youth’s generation is described by experts as the “lost generation,” simply because the outlook is so grim and there are so few job prospects on the horizon. Their delayed entry into the job market will leave them very far behind the rest, even after the economy of the world recovers from the turmoil it is currently in. Most analysis’s who have looked at the problem agree that there is some link between youth unemployment and social unrest.

Experts believe that unemployment in the youth of today is liked to social unrest for a few reasons. One of these reason is that unemployment in youth can lead to social exclusion which, in turn, can lead to social and even political instability. A result of youth being unemployed can be that they feel useless and idle. A result of feeling like his can be that it triggers crime, violence, mental health problems and conflicts. During the Arab Spring, educated young people were a big part of the groups that did the things. Because of this, many observers believe that it reflects that the Arab government has failed to create enough jobs to support the youth of their nation. In the world today, simply being smart, going to college, and obtaining a degree is just not enough anymore. This leads to mistrust in the social and economic systems.

During recessions, young people and usually the “last in and the first out.” This means that young people are usually the last ones to be hired, or they have been hired more recently than other, older employees. When a recession hits, bosses begin to lay off employees, and people who have been with the company longer and have more experience are more likely to be kept on, rather than newer, inexperienced employees. It is a logical way to do business. In places like the Middle East and Europe, generous benefits that come with jobs and government policies protect workers by making it more expensive to hire new employees. This helps protect the older employees because a company would rather keep on an old employee, rather than hiring a new person to fill the position and losing money. Unemployment is a serious issue, and it should be dealt with as such.