Half the world’s jobless are under 24

Youth unemployment has risen worldwide over the past decade to some 88 million, reaching an all time high with young people aged 15 to 24 now representing nearly half the world’s jobless, according to a new study by the International Labour Office (ILO).

But the problem goes far beyond the large number of young people: the report says that young people represent some 130 million of the world’s 550 million working poor who work but unable to lift themselves and their families above the equivalent of US$ 1 per day poverty line. These young people struggle to survive, often performing work under unsatisfactory conditions in the informal economy.

Tackling youth unemployment would be an important contribution to the global economy. Furthermore, as the report points out, people who get a good start to working life are less likely to experience prolonged unemployment later.

Rising worldwide unemployment has hit young people hard, especially young women. Those who can find work often face long working hours, short-term or informal contracts, low pay and little or no social protection such as social security or other social benefits. Young people are thus increasingly dependent on their families, the report says.

The report shows that the growth in the number of young people reveals the ability of economies to provide them with jobs. While the overall youth population grew by 10.5 per cent over the past 10 years to over 1.1 billion in 2003, youth employment grew by only 0.2 per cent to around 526 million employment opportunities. Only some of this gap can be explained by the fact that more young people are pursuing an education for longer periods.

Young people also have some more difficulty finding work than their adult counterparts. While there is a correlation in most countries between trends in youth and adult unemployment rates, the reports notes that during recessions, youth unemployment tends to rise rapidly than adult joblessness.

The relative disadvantage of youth is more pronounced in developing countries, where they make up a higher proportion of the labour force than in industrialized economies, the report says.

According to the report labour force participation rates for young people decreased in the world as a whole by almost 4 percentage points over the last decade, partly as a result of young people staying in education but also because many young people become so frustrated with the lack of unemployment opportunities that they simply drop out of the labour force.

The report says that as well as suffering from lower chances to find employment, young people face discrimination based on age, sex and socio-economic background. Dominant ethnic group fare better in most countries’ labour markets, and the study finds that, in general, youth from lower income households are more likely to be unemployed.

The reports predicts that in developing regions – which have the largest shares of youth within the working-age population – the fate of the youth entering the labour force in years to come will depend on the rate of growth of the economy as well as an improvement in the employment content of growth. In industrialized economies, where youth populations are expected to fall, the effects of demographic change are likely to reduce youth unemployment.

But the report warns that this will not happen automatically. A combination of different policies on youth unemployment is needed to overcome their natural disadvantage against older, more experienced, workers.

 

Task 5. Translate the underlined sentences into Russian.

 

Task 6. Decide whether the sentences are true or false.

1) Youth unemployment is the most important problem and its tackling would be a great contribution to the global economy.

2) The first thing to get a good job is to have a good education.

3) The young people who continue their education are considered to be unemployed.

4) Sometimes the social status is of great importance to be employed.

5) Many Russian politicians are trying to tackle the problem of youth unemployment.

 

Task7. Complete the sentences with the right ending.

1. Youth unemployment has …

a) risen.

b) decreased.

c) not changed.

2. People who get a good start to working life …

a) are employed for the rest of their life.

b) are always busy.

c) have no problems with employment.

3. “Joblessness” means …

a) employment

b) unemployment

c) any type of activity.

4. In comparison with the developing countries in the industrialized countries the level of youth unemployment is …

a) higher.

b) the same.

c) lower.

5. According to the text ………… is needed to solve the problem of unemployment.

a) ….a good policy….

b) …..a good president….

c) …a suitable law….

 

Task 8. Read and learn the new words by heart.

pattern of supply	/’pætən əf sa’plai/	схема поставки
to recruit	/rə’cru:t/	Нанимать, принимать в штат
deal with	/di:l/	иметь дело с..
unfilled vacancy	/an’fild ‘veikənsi/	свободные вакансии
to maintain	/men’tein/	поддерживать, содержать
to divert	/dai’və:t/	отклонять, отвлекать
shortage	/’∫o:tidz/	недостаток, нехватка
to postpone	/poust’poun/	откладывать, отсрочивать
feed back	/’fi:d bæk/	отдача
peer	/’piə/	Ровесник, равный по положению

 

Task 9. Follow the instructions.

1. Read the text carefully.
2. Differentiate between “Boomers” and “Generation X”.
3. Fill in the table after the text.
4. Underline the link-phrases.