Youth in poor conutries are unemployed or trapped in low-quality job

STAGGERING WASTE | Most young workers in poor countries unemployed or in low-quality jobs – ILO MANILA, Philippines – Three in five young workers in some developing countries are either unemployed or trapped in low-quality jobs, indicating a “staggering waste of economic potential,” according to the ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013 report. In six of the ten countries surveyed, over 60 percent of young people are either unemployed, working but in low quality, irregular, low wage jobs, often in the informal economy, or neither in the labor force nor in education or training. In Liberia, Malawi and Togo, the figure exceeds 70 percent. “The waste of economic potential in developing economies is staggering. For an overwhelming number of young people this means a job does not necessarily equal a livelihood,” says Sara Elder, co-author of the report and research specialist for the ILO Youth Employment Program. Counting even those not looking for work In this school-to-work transition survey, ILO goes beyond regular labor force surveys to look at issues such as non-standard employment and labor underutilization, job quality, job satisfaction, and transitions of young people to and within the labor market. “The survey’s analytical framework has been built around disaggregated and nuanced indicators that highlight the specific labor market challenges of young people in developing economies,” said José M. Salazar-Xirinachs, ILO Assistant Director General for Policy. The surveys also show that when unemployment counts those who are not actively looking for work, the unemployment rate is much higher ...