€3.16 bn – cost of doing nothing to combat youth unemployment

The NYCI has been a long time advocate of a youth guarantee – which would ensure young people on the live register for four months or more will automatically be directed into employment, education or training.

Following this latest round of meetings between NYCI, the European Youth Forum and both opposition and government during the EU Presidency, the Youth Council has warned that while a broad political consensus on the issue is to be welcomed, now is the time to get into the details and put ideas into action.

“The youth guarantee scheme is not a panacea, but it is an important first step – it could work in Ireland, if a number of conditions are satisfied,” said NYCI deputy director, James Doorley, speaking after the meeting.

“Firstly, it...

DUBLIN, 6 February – Employment and Social Policy Ministers are convening in Dublin tomorrow for a two day informal meeting focusing on one of the most difficult social problems facing Europe. The theme of the informal meeting is “getting people into work”. Ministers will share views and experiences on a number of policy areas, ranging from jobs and skills development in ICT, youth unemployment and activating jobless households that will feed into the process of developing services and supporting European people back into work.

The first plenary session will be co-chaired by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD. The second plenary session on youth employment will be chaired by Minister Joan Burton.

Minister Joan Burton will al...

[Source independent.ie]

Ireland’s welfare system should be a springboard as well as a safety net for our unemployed, writes Joan Burton

Let’s start with the figures, because they’re simply horrendous. Across Europe right now, 5.5 million young people – one in five of those aged between 15 and 24 who are on the labour market – are without a job. In some individual member states, the situation is even worse.

In Spain and Greece, it’s one in every two young people on the labour market, with youth unemployment rates above 50 per cent. In Ireland, the rate is 32 per cent, which corresponds to about 61,000 young people.

This is not just a problem. It’s an existential crisis for the European Union. The economic cost has been estimated at more than €150bn a year, or 1.2 per cent of EU GDP. But how do we measure the social cost, the terrible and potentially lasting effects of unemployment on the young people themselves?

The internationally respected economists David Bell and David Blanchflower found that even a short spell of unemployment when young can have devastating effects throughout a person’s life.

Youth unemployment increases the lik...

Save-the-date: 28th February 2013, European Parliament, Brussels

»Youth Disengagement – what costs and what remedies?«

A discussion with policy makers and stakeholders, jointly organised by the Eurofound and the European Youth Forum. Hosted by the European Parliament “Youth Intergroup”.

This joint ...

The statistics show that unemployment among young people is increasing across Europe, where in several countries it has even reached more than 40%. Nowadays, being a graduate from a reputable university with high marks is not enough to ensure rapid employment. There are many reasons behind the problem of youth unemployment, for example: lack of particular skills, wrong educational system, mismatches between education and needs in labor market, lack of self confidence, lack of self esteem, and of course structural lack of working places.

What can young people do to increase their employability then? How are they going to find a job? How are they going to effectively present themselves in the labor market and succeed? These are just some of the questions which youth and new graduates are loo...

The ILO Youth Employment Programme is organizing a photo contest to shed light on youth employment issues, the challenges young people face in the workplace as well as their power to overcome them. Zoom in for the top prize!