13.07.2022
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE HARDEST HIT BY JOB LOSSES DUE TO THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID
The European Commission has published its Employment and Social Development in Europe (ESD) Review 2022. Among other findings, the report shows that young people are among the hardest hit by job losses during the economic crisis caused by the COVID pandemic -19. It also shows that their recovery is slower than other age groups. Possible explanations are related to the high share of fixed-term contracts and difficulties in finding a first job after leaving school, university or training. The new report helps define and justify the employment and social policies needed to address the challenges young people face in becoming economically independent in the context of a deteriorating socio-economic situation due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicola Schmidt said: Many young people have higher education, digital skills and an active interest in environmental issues. This can help them take advantage of the opportunities of recovery and the digital and environmental transition. 2022 is the European Year of Youth because the European Union is committed to listening to young people, supporting them and improving their chances in life. This also means supporting young Ukrainians who have fled the war by helping them enter the EU education system and labor market.
Based on the latest annual data, the review of the PES found that:
The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was not evenly distributed. Young people (under the age of 30) still face significant challenges in finding work or finding work that matches their skills and experience. Although youth unemployment declined in 2021, especially towards the end of the year, it remained 1 percentage point higher than before the crisis (in 2019). Of those in work, nearly 1 in two young people (45.9%) had temporary contracts, compared to 1 in 10 for all those in work (10.2%). In general, young people are more likely to face a difficult social and financial situation. Even before the pandemic, the labor income of young people was more volatile than that of older workers. Households headed by young people face greater poverty, although there are significant differences between EU countries. Young people find it difficult to meet their daily expenses, such as paying bills and rent, and 61% of them worry about finding or maintaining suitable housing in the next ten years. The challenges young people face depend on their level of education and socio-economic background. Young people with a secondary education are 19 percentage points less likely to be in a situation where they are not working, studying or training than those with a lower level of education. For persons with higher education, this risk is 28 percentage points lower. Disadvantaged young people are even less likely to be in employment, education or training. Gender is another factor that leads to inequality among young people. When starting their careers, young women in the EU earn on average 7.2% less than their male counterparts - a gap that widens with age. At EU level, only a small part of this difference - 0.5 percentage points - is the result of women's educational attainment, choice of profession, professional experience and the type of employment contract they have.
Successful policies at EU level to support young people
The ESD review provides an evidence-based analysis of ways to address the challenges young people face. In particular, employment and social policies shall:
to improve the integration of young people in the labor market, to enable young people to acquire skills, to support labor mobility - a building block for a successful and sustainable career, to reduce risks for young people, such as unemployment or illness, poverty and indebtedness, to help young people build material security and acquire property.
Additional EU initiatives to support young people are being prepared. In 2023, the Commission plans to review the Council Recommendation on the Quality Framework for Traineeships, in particular with regard to working conditions. A high-level group is currently looking at ways to improve social protection, including for young people, and will present its findings early next year.
Context
The Annual Review of Employment and Social Development in Europe (ESD) is the European Commission's leading analytical report on employment and social issues. It provides up-to-date economic analysis as well as related policy proposals.
The EU supports young people through a range of policy programmes, including:
The Youth Guarantee scheme, including the Youth Employment Initiative, has had a transformative impact on EU labor markets. The figures show that since 2014, over 36 million young people who were once registered with Youth Guarantee schemes have subsequently been offered work, further education, apprenticeships and/or traineeships. The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is the EU's main instrument for investing in people, including supporting youth employment. The new initiative ALMA (from English Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve) is aimed at disadvantaged young people who are not participating in any form of employment, education or training. The €100 billion European Instrument for Temporary Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in Emergency Situations (SURE) was launched in April 2020 to address the impact of the pandemic on EU labor markets, including for young people. In 2020, it helped around 31 million people and 2.5 million businesses. In 2021, it supported approximately 3 million people and 400,000 businesses. EU Member States' Recovery and Resilience Plans focus on policies for the next generation as one of their six pillars, in line with the strengthened Youth Guarantee.
