The present

More than 1 billion people today are between 15 and 25 years of age and nearly 40 per cent of the world's population is below the age of 20. Eighty-five per cent of these young people live in developing countries where many are especially vulnerable to extreme poverty.

The International Labour Office estimates that around 88.2 million young women and men are unemployed throughout the world, accounting for 47 per cent of all the 185.9 million unemployed persons globally, and many more young people are working long hours for low pay, struggling to eke out a living in the informal economy.

There are an estimated 59 million young people between 15 and 17 years of age who are engaged in hazardous forms of work. Young people actively seeking to participate in the world of work are two to three times more likely than older generations to find themselves unemployed.

The future

1 billion people will become of working age within the next decade. While rapid globalisation and technological change offer new opportunities for productive work and incomes for the lucky few, for many working age young people, these trends increase the vulnerability inherent in the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Across the planet, millions of young women and men are failing to gain an entry into the workforce, and the disadvantage suffered by young women is greater. The vast majority of jobs available to youth are low paid, insecure, and with few benefits or prospects for advancement.

A generation without the hope of stable employment is a burden of responsibility for all of society. Poor employment in the early stages of a young person's career can harm job prospects for life. Underemployed or unemployed youth will have less to spend as consumers or to save and invest, which will hurt employers and economies. The economic investment of governments in education and training will be wasted if young people do not move into productive jobs that enable them to pay taxes and support public services. Young women and men who find themselves alienated from society, frustrated by lack of opportunity and without means are sometimes are more vulnerable to involvement with illegal and criminal activities and are at risk of recruitment by armed groups.

Young people have a role

Young people are now asking that their voices be heard, that their issues be addressed and that their roles be recognized. Rather than being viewed as a target group for which employment must be found, they want to be accepted as partners for development, helping to chart a common course and shaping the future for everyone.

The expected inflow of young people into the labour market, rather than being viewed as a problem, should be recognized as presenting an enormous opportunity and potential for economic and social development.

Young people as such should be viewed as an asset, not a threat and that in relation to the job market young people are the solution, whilst unemployment is the problem, not vice versa.

The policy solutions

Traditionally international initiatives focused on the issue of youth employment have expressed a commitment to engage youth groups as equal partners in the policy making process. All too often these promises have in reality meant little more than 'consultation' and the resulting policy has been a perceived notion of 'what is best' for young people. Such policy-making has led to the implementation of policy that has consistently failed to address the underlying concerns of young people and causes of youth unemployment and subsequently the problem has continued unchecked.

The Youth Employment Network seeks to change this:

- The YEN views young people as partners in devising solutions to a common problem.   

- The YEN will ensure that its policy recommendations support the aspirations of young people rather than impose perceived 'needs' upon them.

- The YEN will continue to work to ensure representative youth groups play central roles in the development and implementation of National Action Plans on youth employment.

For more information on the role of youth organisations in the work of the YEN please click here.