The economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has been uneven across Member States and young people under 30 are finding it particularly difficult to find or regain employment commensurate with their qualifications. This is the conclusion drawn on 12 July by the Commission in its new 2022 report on employment and social developments in the Member States, which focuses on young people and their economic and social prospects, and is based on statistics from Eurostat and the OECD.
It is concerned about the situation of 15-29 year olds, as the Youth Guarantee has extended the definition of young people to 29 years old, from the previous definition of 15-24 years.
“While youth unemployment fell in 2021, especially towards the end of the year, it remained one percentage point higher than before the crisis (in 2019), at 31.4%”, according to the Commission. Among those in employment, almost one in two young people (45.9%) had a temporary contract, compared to one in ten for all workers (10.2%).
Young people are also, on average, “more likely to face difficult social and financial circumstances. Even before the pandemic, the labour income of young people was more volatile than that of older workers”, explains the Commission.
Young people also found it difficult to meet their day-to-day expenses, such as bills and rent, and 61% were worried that they would not be able to find or keep suitable accommodation in the next ten years. 70% of those surveyed also worry that they will not be able to cope financially in retirement and old age.
At EU level, the number of people in severe material and social deprivation has increased to 28.85 million in 2020 (from 28.03 million in 2019), with “ considerable variations between Member States”. The social impact of the crisis has also varied by age, with young people experiencing a slight deterioration in their living conditions.
Minors and the working age population were more affected by severe material and social deprivation (+0.7% and +0.2% in 2020, latest official data available), while this risk decreased for the over-65s (-0.9 pp).
Gender is another factor of inequality among young people. Young women in the EU earn on average 7.2% less than their male colleagues at the start of their careers, a gap that widens with age.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/2lg (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)