Large youth unemployment rates in the US and UK pose immediate and long-term risks and economic damage
The June jobs report pointed to the continuation of a slow – but persistent – economic recovery in the United States. But the youth unemployment rate remains about double the overall rate, with about 16% of young people who want to work unable to find a job. In the US and countries around the world, relentlessly high youth unemployment threatens the futures of individuals and the broader economy.
Youth, between the ages of 15 and 24, make up 17% of the global population but 40% of the unemployed, a figure that doesn't include those enrolled in school. The Middle East and North Africa region has the highest youth unemployment rate, with one in four young people unemployed, driving social unrest. Youth unemployment is even higher in some parts of Europe, where more than 50% of young people in Greece and Spain are out of work.
In the United Kingdom, more than 15% of the youth population is not in education, employment or training. And in the United States, a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress concluded, more than 10 million youth are unable to find full-time work. That means the number of young Americans out of work is greater than the population of New York City.
The much-maligned Millennial generation isn't feckless. They aren't lazy. They want to continue their educations, receive employment training and participate productively in the workforce. But they're hampered by weak economies, discrimination and inequality of opportunity.
That's what young people around the world told the United Nations high level panel on the post-2015 development agenda, of which I was privileged to be a member. The panel was co-chaired by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Although the high level panel's mandate was to make recommendations for a global development agenda to follow the expiration of the millennium development goals at the end of 2015, I firmly believe policymakers must not wait to address the youth unemployment crisis. Those panelists who are best positioned to change policy in their home countries should act with particular urgency.
High youth unemployment causes immediate and long-term economic damage. It means young adults take longer to get married, buy homes and begin families. In the long run, it means slower economic growth and lower tax receipts. Countries with prolonged high levels of youth unemployment risk social instability.
Things aren't altogether better for young people who do find jobs. Young adults entering employment in periods of economic weakness receive lower salaries and are more likely to work lower-skilled jobs than those who begin work during better times. As a result, they can earn 10 to 15% less than they might otherwise have for 10 years or longer after entering the workforce.
The high level panel consulted with civil society, businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals to inform the report we released on 30 May. In particular, we sought to hear the perspectives of the global youth. Young men and women alike pointed to education as a priority, and to ensuring sexual and reproductive health care and rights. They called for an end to child marriage. They sought equality for women and the LGBT community.
The voices of the world's youth can be heard in many of the illustrative goals and targets in the high level panel's report. But I think it is strongest where we call for the world to "decrease the number of young people not in education, employment or training" in every country, according to respective needs and capabilities.
Policymakers, businesses and nonprofits need to begin today to address the youth unemployment crisis by creating jobs; helping young people build skills needed for work, including technical and vocational skills and entrepreneurship; and ensuring youth receive an adequate education. Socioeconomically disadvantaged youth are more likely than their wealthier, better-educated peers to be unemployed, so policymakers must deliberately target efforts to reach those groups. The European Union's new $7.8bn (€6bn) plan to direct more resources toward countries with youth unemployment rates above 25% will help, but should be considered only the beginning of a larger effort.
It will fall to the youth – including young people in the United States and the United Kingdom – to build the world the high level panel envisions in its report. The hundreds of young people I met over the past year showed me with their passion, energy, commitment to equality and to environmental sustainability, and above all their optimism they are eager to take on the task.
We must do everything possible today to give young people the skills, education and employment experiences they're asking for. If we do, I am confident that 2030 will see a world where environmentally sustainable economic development is the norm; a world where we've ended extreme poverty and hunger; and a world where women and men have achieved social equality everywhere.
That is the world today's young people want. Let's give them the tools to build it.
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