Global Employment Trends for Youth: ILO | 13 Aug 2022

Why in News?

Recently, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has released a report titled “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022: Investing in transforming futures for young people”.

What are the Findings Globally?

• Gender Disparity in EPR:
  • Young women exhibited a much lower Employment-to-Population ratio (EPR), showing that young men are almost 1.5 times more likely than young women to be employed.
    • In 2022, 27.4 % of young women globally are projected to be in employment, compared to 40.3 % of young men.
• Pandemic Impacted Youth Employment:
  • Covid-19 Pandemic has worsened the numerous labour market challenges facing those aged between 15 and 24 years, who have experienced a much higher percentage loss in employment than adults since early 2020.
    • The total global number of unemployed youths is estimated to reach 73 million in 2022, a slight improvement from 2021 but still six million above the pre-pandemic level of 2019.
• Regional Differences:
  • The recovery in youth unemployment is projected to diverge between low- and middle-income countries on the one hand and high-income countries on the other.
  • High income countries are the only ones expected to achieve youth unemployment rates close to those of 2019 by the end of 2022.
  • Meanwhile, in the other country income groups, the rates are projected to remain more than 1% above their pre-crisis values.
• Benefits of Green and Blue Economies:
  • Young people were well-placed to benefit from the expansion of the so-called green and blue economies, centred around the environment and sustainable ocean resources respectively.
    • An additional 8.4 million jobs may be created for young people by 2030 through green and blue investments, notably in clean and renewable energies, sustainable agriculture, recycling and waste management.
• Broadband Coverage and Employment:
  • Achieving universal broadband coverage by 2030 may lead to a net increase in employment of 24 million new jobs worldwide, of which 6.4 million would be taken by young people.
  • Investments in care sectors would create 17.9 million more jobs for young people by 2030.

What are the Findings Related to India?

• Decline in Youth Employment:
  • The youth employment participation rate declined by 0.9 % over the first nine months of 2021 relative to its value in 2020, while it increased by 2 % for adults over the same time period.
    • The situation is particularly severe for very young people aged 15-20 years.
• Low Young Female Employment:
  • Indian young women experienced larger relative employment losses than young men in 2021 and 2022.
  • In general, the high youth employment losses in India drive up the global average employment losses.
    • Young Indian men account for 16% of young men in the global labour market, while the corresponding share for young Indian women is just 5%.
• Gap in Online Education:
  • School closures lasted 18 months and among the 24-crore school-going children, only 8% of such children in rural areas and 23% in urban areas had adequate access to online education.
  • Given the deeply unequal access to online resources in developing countries, children from socio-economically disadvantaged families, which are the large majority, had almost no access to education.
• Learning Regression:
  • School closures not only prevented new learning, but also led to the phenomenon of “learning regression”, that is, children forgetting what they had learned earlier.
  • In India, 92% of children on average lost at least one foundational ability in language and 82% lost at least one foundational ability in mathematics.
• Teachers are Paid Less:
  • The study found out that teachers in non-state schools are often paid significantly less than those in state schools.
  • Teachers in low-fee private schools in India, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan are paid between one eighth and one half of what their counterparts in the state sector receive.
• Domestic work is Highly Informal:
  • Domestic work is a highly informal sector in India, and wages are extremely low and young women and girls are vulnerable to abuse.b
  • Reports of abuse suffered by young domestic workers are common, including verbal and physical abuse, and sexual exploitation.

What are the Recommendations?

• Investment in various sectors must be accompanied by the promotion of decent working conditions for all young workers.
• Young workers should be ensured that they enjoy fundamental rights and protections including freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, equal pay for work of equal value, and freedom from violence and harassment at work.
• Young people should be provided with well‐functioning labour markets with decent job opportunities for those already participating in the labour market, along with quality education and training opportunities for those yet to enter it.

Source: TH