Education is the key to a decent job.

“In 2010, in 25 out of 27 developed countries, the highest unemployment rate was among people with primary education or less.”¹¹

...yet high education does not guarantee a decent job.

In Tunisia, 40% of university graduates are unemployed against 24% of non-graduates.¹²

Highly educated young females are increasingly vulnerable in some countries.

“In Turkey, the unemployment rate among university educated women is more than 3 times higher than that of university educated men; in Iran and the United Arab Emirates, it is nearly 3 times; and in Saudi Arabia, it is 8 times.”¹³

High population growth rates, especially in the Middle East, North Africa and sub-saharan Africa, have increased the number of youth entering the labour market.¹⁴

During economic downturn, youth employees are not only the “last in” but also the “first out”, since it is more costly for employees to lay off older workers. Youth workers are less likely to have had company training, have fewer skills, and are often on a temporary contract.^{2, 5}

More than 6 million youths have given up looking for a job.¹⁶

Prolonged unemployment entails higher risk of future unemployment, as prospective employers have negative perception of youth who have been without employment for a long period of time. Discouraged youth gave up looking for work altogether and are in danger of feeling useless and alienated from society.⁵

The priority given to youth unemployment is on the rise in 138 countries. However, only 35 countries have adopted action plans and only 4 countries have identified a budget in their national employment policies for the implementation of youth employment priorities.¹⁷

In general, a high level of employment protection regulation can have an adverse effect on youth workers as firms would rather hire more experienced workers if they are less able to fire them during a downturn. Strong increases in minimum wages have been argued by some as having a negative impact on employment of youth.¹⁰

32% of young employees were on temporary contracts in 2011, compared to 8.9% of adults.¹⁸

In 2010, 42.1% of young people in the 27 EU countries were working in temporary jobs, while 47% of youth in sub-Saharan Africa were unpaid workers.¹⁶

Youth in developing countries account for 23.5% of the working poor.¹⁸

“More than 200 million youth are working-poor, earning under US$ 2 a day, mostly employed in the informal sectors of developing countries”¹⁶

An increasing percentage of young workers in developed countries are being forced into part-time jobs.

600 million jobs need to be created over the next decade.¹⁹