According to International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s report titled “Global Employment Trends (GET) for Youth 2024: Decent work, brighter futures”, Global Youth Unemployment Rate (YUR) in 2023 decreased to 13% which represents a 15-year low and a fall from the pre-pandemic rate of 13.8% in 2019.
- Globally, a total 64.9 million young people were unemployed in 2023, the lowest since the start of the millennium.
- The global YUR is expected to further decrease to 12.8% in 2024 and 2025.
- The 2024 report marks the 12th edition of the GET for Youth report which was first issued in 2004. This also marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of GET for Youth.
Key Findings:
i.Rise in NEETs: The report cautioned that the number of 15-to-24-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) is concerning, and that the post-COVID-19 pandemic employment has not been universal.
- The report mentioned that 1in 5 young people or 20.4% of young people across the world were NEET in 2023 and 2 in 3 young NEETs globally being women.
ii.Regions with increase in YUR: In the Arab states (increased by 1%), East Asia(increased by 4.3%), and South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific (increased by 1%), youth unemployment rates were higher in 2023 than in 2019.
iii.Inequalities of Opportunity: The report mentioned that 1 in 5 of young adults aged between 25 to 29 years in low-income countries (LICs) manage to find a secure stable, long-term paid jobs.
- High-income countries has a much higher rate of secure paid job i.e. 76% in 2023, though the incidence of temporary work has increased in those countries too.
- The report noted that more than 50% of young workers are in informal sector. Majority of young workers who work in regular sector are in high- and upper-middle-income economies.
iv.Gender Disparity: according to the report, young men have benefited more from the labour market than young women. The report mentioned that the YUR of young women increased by 1% above the pre-crisis rate in 2023 at 13.4%, the rate of young men had decreased by 0.7% points.
- The YUR of young women and young men in 2023 were nearly equal at 12.9% and 13% respectively.
- The global youth NEET rate of young women was at 28.1% in 2023, which is double that of young men (at 13.1%).
v.Regional Differences in NEETs: As per the report, the rate of youth NEET has decreased from 2019 in all Asia-Pacific sub-regions except, in South Asia sub-region where NEET rate was exceedingly higher among women (at 42.4%).
- Thus, on the aggregate, 20.4% youth in South Asia was in NEET status in 2023.
- The gender gap in youth NEET rates in South Asia was at 31%, which was higher than in any other sub-region of the world.
- The report projected that the YUR in the region is expected to decrease to 13.7% but youth NEET will again increase slightly to 20.5%.
Other Key Observations:
i.The report observed that the share of young adults in Asia and the Pacific sub-regions, working in temporary jobs has increased 1 in 5 to 1 in 4 since 2000.
- It noted that by 2021, South Asia is the only sub-region which still had the agricultural sector as the largest employer of young people (at 35%).
ii.The report cautioned that there is increasing cases of anxiety among youth due to consistent increase in high rates of NEET and insufficient growth of decent jobs.
About International Labour Organisation (ILO):
Director-General (DG) – Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo
Headquarter– Geneva, Switzerland
Member nations– 187
Established– 1919
