Youth unemployment has had disastrous effects in history, as proven through different research and findings. Traditionally youth unemployment has had negative effects on the development of nations, leading to critical situations such as increased dependency rates and on an extension basis raised poverty rates as well. Not only does youth unemployment have adverse economic effects, but it also affects the society. Countries which have a high rate of young people with no jobs tend to have higher crime rates because often they indulge in petty crimes to make ends meet. Moreover, educated youth that faces employment failures often have been revealed to be depressed, source of discomfort to those around them and also depict higher incidences of suicidal tendencies. Not only does this reflect upon the contemporary theme of humans and the environment but it also reflects upon the themes of the shrinking world as well as roots of contemporary conflicts.
Youth unemployment is reflective of shrinking of the world theme because the scarcity of resources which is growing day by day. Resources like oil, which are scarce commodities nowadays, have caused businesses to shrink and have caused a global recession. Also, the theme of roots of contemporary conflict because unemployment amongst young people causes issues like crime and deviance amongst the youth, is also discussed. Moreover such people are more likely to practice things like unprotected sex etc. as many studies have shown. Because of such a high rate of unemployment the danger the world faces today is that of losing a whole generation of workers. Since most of the job openings at higher ends ask for a minimum experience etcetera it is immensely probable that the people the youth that does not get employed today will ultimately stay unemployed later one.
One of the major issues that are related to youth unemployment is education and whether or not higher education guarantees a job or not. The answer to this question is complicated, as research shows, because this depends on what sort of jobs a person wants. However the trend these days is changing and most high school students have college on their minds when they graduate. This will in a way affect unemployment because of course the higher the education a person will get the better their chances will get of landing work.
However for those who are not able to get higher education the scenario remains bleak. There are not a whole lot of options available for people who are just high school graduates. This often causes these young people to turn towards crime, drugs and prostitution amongst other societal ills. Pregnancy, rape and other problems are also rampant amongst such people. What the government needs to understand is that not all minds can be directed towards a college education. There is evidence that suggests, more opportunities for a workforce that is semi-skilled and that can cater to small scale jobs which do not need a degree or a specialization, can reduce the level of youth unemployment. Means can be made to harness the power and intelligence of young people who for some reason could not get a university degree. An example of this includes small scale loans to start their own businesses.
Psychological and behavioral research suggests that no human being is ever born without a talent or intelligence of some sort. This talent can range from a talent to fix a car or a talent for fashion. If the government can provide small scale loans to young people who have a talent for such things, not only will those people make themselves self-employed but they will also make another firm which will generate employment opportunities for others. For example if a young woman is given a loan from which she is able to start her own hairstyling salon or a small boutique she will generate employment for at least ten people with similar interests. This will help lessen unemployment in a country as a whole.
Another way about this would be to provide the youth with technical and vocational skills. Technical training and vocational colleges’ maybe opened which would help people to learn new skills that would help them get jobs. This is the practice in many developing nations such as United States, Canada and UK. Doing this one may be able to lead the people away from crime and other problems and at the same time be able to help the economy by generating more employment.
Statistics from previous years show how high the economic and social damage is from having a large percentage of the 16-18 population unemployed. Studies have shown that it is the youth with little or no qualifications that have issues while job hunting. Some people would argue that it is the immigrants who cause the unemployment figures to go up. However reports show that areas with no immigrants have unemployment statistics going up just as fast if not faster. One of the problems that are encountered by young people when they go out to get a job is that most employers want experience. What employers fail to realize is that unless and until they give them the chance to gain experience they will not be able to gain it and learn more. Moreover, if young people are kept on being rejected on the basis of lack of relevant knowledge they will never get the required skill set and eventually not only they will lose out but the employers will too because they won’t have new workers after the old ones retire.
One solution to eradicate the need for experience is that young people are either given training during school years or they are able to do internships while they learn in schools as well. Not only will this give them the required experience but it will also provide cheap labor for the economy. Moreover it will help people not get involved into a culture of drugs, partying and alcohol. As Polk says” New patterns of youth culture are being generated as a consequence, which many adults view as both bizarre and threatening. For example, the more extreme forms of punk culture, with its emphasis on physical violence, sexual degradation, and mutilation seem far removed from the ‘hell-raising’ of the semi-delinquent youth cultures of the past decades.”
Protecting the youth from remaining unemployed will thus help them stay away from such dangerous issues. The crime rate will stay low. However in times like this when there is global recession, the age group that gets the hardest kick on their paycheck is the age group of people from age 18-24. This is because most of the people from this group are semi skilled labor or lack the required experience for a job. According to Eichler from the Huffington Post “Among adults ages 18 to 34, more than a third say they have gone back to school in the face of a tough labor market, the Pew study notes. Nearly a quarter have taken an unpaid job or moved back in with parents. One in five has put off having a child or getting married due to economic concerns.”
This picture clearly shows the disastrous degree to which unemployment has taken place. Lack of money has made people make difficult lifestyle choices. Other than this, studies have shown that setbacks like this at an early stage in a person’s career can leave them emotionally and psychologically scarred. Setbacks often lead children to get into easier yet much more highly paying jobs like drug dealing and car snatching. Most of them believe that they can’t get out of these dealings once they get into them. The repercussions of youth unemployment are thus great and dangerous.
Other effects of unemployment in the youth are that being unemployed at a younger stage are that the people earn less in the future. Experience has a positive effect on future earnings, being unemployed early on means that one will earn less in the future because they will have less experience. It also affects future unemployment, because studies have shown that people who are unemployed when they are young experience prolonged spells of unemployment in the future. This too leads to future socio-economic problems.
The major problems that stems from unemployment amongst the youth are not only economic but also social. Curbing youth unemployment is an absolute necessity because this creates many social ills. The government must create provisions to lessen unemployment within the youth, in order to save their countries from some horrible consequences. Appropriate measures like providing technical training and also student loans which help children get higher education which improve job prospects for young people, must be embraced. Another solution for this increasing dilemma can be that the employers hire deserving workers instead of taking employees to carry on their own illegal dealings. In this way the rights of the honest and efficient workers are denied and the cunning and dishonest ones move forward which is completely unfair. Moreover if a candidate does not have sufficient experience, he should be given a chance to prove himself otherwise he won’t be able to gain any experience. Furthermore, a fresh and a young mind can give his hundred percent in any job. Also, the candidates should not lose conviction and hope if they don’t find a job. All the careers begin in a similar pattern, it all depends how you take care and advantage of an opportunity.
Not getting a job and not getting a desired job are two different things. The youth should grab any job opportunity that they get otherwise their name will also be included in the list of unemployed people, since many nations have underdeveloped systems of revealing such statistics and information.
Bibliography
Karaim, Reed. "Youth Unemployment." CQ Global Researcher 6, no. 5 (March 6, 2012): 105-28. http://library.cqpress.com/globalresearcher/cqrglobal2012030600.
Eichler, Alexander. “Employment Rate For Young Adults Lowest In 60 Years, Study Says.” The Huffington Post. (February 9, 2012): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/employment-rate-young-adults_n_1264241.html
