Archive:Being young in Europe today - labour market - access and participation
- Data extracted in March 2015. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned article update: June 2018
This article is part of a set of statistical articles based on the Eurostat flagship publication 'Being young in Europe today' (which can be consulted in order to get a layouted pdf version). Youth employment is a key aspect of Europe's prosperity. Young people represent an important source of skills, creativity and dynamism. A better harnessing of these qualities could help Europe’s economy grow and become more competitive. However, the youth unemployment rate has been rising steadily over the last few years, turning it into a major concern for the EU.
The Europe 2020 strategy has dedicated two of its flagship initiatives to improving the employment situation of young people: ‘Youth on the move’ which promotes mobility as a means of learning and increasing employability, and ‘An agenda for new skills and jobs’ (COM(2010) 682), which aims to improve employability and employment opportunities for young people.
In order to reduce youth unemployment and to increase the youth employment rate in line with the goals identified in the Europe 2020 strategy, a set of measures were adopted at EU level:
- The ‘Youth employment package’, adopted in 2012, includes a set of measures to facilitate school-to-work transition. The ‘Youth guarantee’ is one of these measures. It helps to ensure that all young people aged under 25 get good-quality employment offers, continued education, or an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of leaving school or becoming unemployed.
- The ‘Youth employment initiative’ (2013) reinforces and accelerates measures outlined in the ‘Youth employment package’. It supports particularly young people not in education, employment or training in regions with a youth unemployment rate above 25 %.
This article looks at the labour situation of young people from different perspectives. First, the education and employment patterns characteristic of young people will be examined. Next, the focus will be put on the transition from education to the labour market by looking into the average age when leaving formal education, the average time elapsed between leaving formal education and starting the first job, and the employment rates after leaving education. In the third part, the situation of young people on the labour market will be described by analysing the employment rates, the working arrangements, such as part-time and temporary work contracts, as well as their unemployment levels.
Main statistical findings
Education and employment patterns
A gradual change from education to employment
After the age of 18, compulsory schooling ends in all European countries and, as can be seen in the article on education from this publication, 45 % of young people (aged 15–29) were still in education. In addition, the age of 15 (or 16 in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) marks the beginning of the working age in all EU Member States. In some countries, young people start working much earlier than in others, e.g. in the shape of summer or student jobs. It is also possible to be in education and to have a job at the same time, causing an overlap. Subsequently, young Europeans may find themselves in a number of different situations when it comes to education and employment.
Employed persons are all persons aged 15 or more who worked at least one hour for pay or profit during the reference week or were temporarily absent from such work.
Taking both the education (formal and non-formal) and employment situations into consideration, young people can be divided into four broad categories:
- exclusively in education;
- both in education and in employment;
- exclusively in employment; and
- neither in employment nor in education or training.
Figure 1 shows that in 2013 the education and employment patterns differ considerably according to age group.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_18)
While in the 15–19 age group the majority of young people were in education, in the other two age groups the education and employment patterns changed considerably. In 2013, at EU level, 78 % of young people aged 15–19 were exclusively in education, 11 % combined education and employment, whereas only 3.5 % were exclusively in employment. The situation for the 20–24 age group differs considerably from the previous one: the percentage of those exclusively in education was reduced by half (34 %) and the percentage of those exclusively in employment was nine times higher (31 %). The percentage of those combining education and employment has slightly increased by 5 percentage points, from 11 % to 16 %. In the 25–29 age group, the reverse situation for the 15–19 age group can be observed: the highest proportion (57 %) was exclusively in employment, while only 8 % were exclusively in education. The last category — neither in employment nor in education or training — represents a special case and will be discussed at the end of this section.
Considering the 20–24 age group, an analysis at country level shows important differences across EU Member States. Figure 2 presents the education and employment patterns, with countries ranked by decreasing share of young people aged 20–24 in education (exclusively or in combination with employment). In some countries almost one in two young people were exclusively in education: Luxembourg (57 %), Croatia (49 %), Slovenia (47 %), Greece (46 %) and Spain (45 %). In others, only about one in five persons was exclusively in education: Austria (22 %), Malta (22 %), the Netherlands (21 %) and the United Kingdom (18 %). However, a certain proportion of young people also combined education and employment: the Netherlands and Denmark stood out for their high proportion of young people combining education and employment (about 42 % in both countries). Combining education and employment was less common in Italy (4 %), Hungary, Greece, Croatia, Slovakia and Romania (all with 3 %). Focusing on the employment situation, a variation of 36 percentage points was observed between EU Member States. The highest proportion of young people aged 20–24 exclusively in employment was recorded in Malta (54 %), followed by Austria (45 %) and the United Kingdom (43 %). In three countries the proportions of those exclusively in education was below 20 %: Spain, Greece and Slovenia.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_18)
Particularly for people aged 25–29, access to the labour market is essential for entering independent life. Figure 3 presents the education and employment patterns where countries are ranked by decreasing share of young people aged 25-29 in employment (exclusively or in combination with education). In 2013, 70 % of young Europeans in this age group were in employment — 10 % of them were combining education and employment. In three EU Member States more than four fifths of young people were in employment: Malta (83 %), the Netherlands (82 %) and Austria (81 %). At the other end of the scale we find Greece and Italy, where approximately one in two people aged 25–29 were in employment (49 % in Greece and 53 % in Italy). Combining education and employment still occurs among people aged 25–29, although it differs considerably from country to country. The highest proportion of people combining education and employment was found in the Nordic countries: 35 % in Denmark, 29 % in Sweden and 28 % in Finland, while the lowest were recorded in Greece (3 %) and Romania (2 %). As for the share of people aged 25–29 exclusively in education, the disparities between EU Member States ranged from 16 % in Denmark to 3 % in Lithuania and Malta.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_18)
The structure of the educational system is a very important factor to explain the differences between countries. Looking at Figures 2 and 3 similar patterns can be observed in both age groups (20–24 and 25–29) in relation to combining education and employment. Denmark and the Netherlands, where most study programmes include a traineeship, stood out for their high proportion of young people in both age groups combining education and employment. In countries like Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Croatia and Hungary the percentage of those combining education and employment was below 5 % in both age groups.
At EU level, the education and employment situation of young people aged 20–24 has changed over the last 10 years. As can be seen in Figure 4, the most important changes occurred in the situation of people exclusively in education and exclusively in employment. While in 2004 the rate of young people exclusively in employment exceeded that of young people exclusively in education by 10 percentage points, in 2013 the opposite situation occurred: the rate of those exclusively in education exceeded the rate of those exclusively in employment by two percentage points — the latter losing about seven percentage points over the last 10 years. The percentage of young people aged 20–24 in employment strongly decreased in countries like Cyprus (- 24 %), Spain (- 23 %) and Greece (- 22 %) while it was stable or even increased in countries such as Germany (7 %), Poland (5 %), Finland and the United Kingdom (both 4 %), Lithuania (3 %), Austria and Sweden (both 1 %).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_18)
As for the 25–29 age group, the education and employment situation has remained relatively stable at EU level over the last ten years. Only the proportion of those exclusively in employment saw a small and gradual fall from 62 % in 2004 to 57 % in 2013.
Young people neither in employment nor in education or training
Young people outside education and employment are more numerous in the older age group and among women
Potentially any type of education or training (formal or non-formal) should improve skills and employability. People who are neither in employment nor in education and training are often disconnected from the labour market and have a higher risk of not finding a job, which could lead to poverty or social exclusion. They are monitored through both education and labour market policies. Reducing the number of young people who are neither in employment nor in education or training is one of the EU’s top priorities.
Young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are defined as the percentage of the young population that is both not employed and not involved in further education and training.
As laid out at the beginning of this article, a higher proportion of the population in the 15–24 age group was still studying, while most people in the 25–29 age group had already left the education system. For this reason, the focus for the rest of this article will be on the 15–24 and 25–29 age groups.
In 2013, 13 % of people aged 15–24 and 30 % of people aged 25–29 were neither in employment nor in education or training in the EU. The lowest proportions of people aged 15–24 not in employment, education or training were recorded in the Netherlands and Luxembourg (both 5 %) followed by Denmark and Germany (both 6 %), while the highest were recorded in Italy, Bulgaria (both 22 %) and Greece (21 %). Along with Cyprus and Croatia, Greece was one of the three countries where the highest increase in the rates of persons not in employment, education or training (nine percentage points) was registered between 2008 and 2013 (Figure 5).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_150)
Considering the 25–29 age group, the share of people not in employment, education or training stood at 21 % in 2013 in the EU (Figure 6). Looking at individual EU Member States the highest proportion was again recorded in Greece (42 %), followed by Italy (33 %) and Bulgaria (32 %). The lowest rates were found in Sweden (9 %), Austria (10 %) and Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands (all three with 11 %).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_150)
Compared with the situation in 2008, 2013 saw a small reduction (of three percentage points) in the proportion of people not in employment, education or training in four EU Member States: Malta, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria. In the other EU Member States the situation worsened. The highest growth was recorded in Greece (22 percentage points), followed by Spain and Croatia (12 percentage points).
Figure 7 shows that in the years leading up to the financial and economic crisis, the percentage of people not in employment, education or training rate had been decreasing gradually. However, the financial and economic crisis reversed this development — 2008 saw a steady increase in both age groups: two percentage points in the 15–24 age group and four percentage points in the 25–29 group.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_150)
In the 25–29 age group, gender differences were registered in the proportion of persons neither in employment nor in education or training (Figure 8). In 2013, at EU level, 25 % of women aged 25–29 versus 17 % of men aged 25–29 were neither in employment nor in education or training. This pattern is found to a varying extent in all EU Member States. In Greece, almost half of the women (49 %) aged 25–29 were neither in employment nor in education or training. The lowest rates were found in Sweden (10 %), the Netherlands (12 %), Denmark, Austria (both 13 %) and Luxembourg (14 %). The highest gender gap was found in the Czech Republic (20 percentage points), followed by Slovakia (17 percentage points) whereas in Spain, Croatia, Ireland and the Netherlands the difference between women and men was below two percentage points.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_150)
A possible reason for the fact that, in general, more women are neither in education nor in employment or training could be that, due to family responsibilities, they are not seeking employment and consequently, according to the definition, inactive on the labour market.
School-to-work transition
The level of education is a key factor for a successful transition to the labour market
An important aspect of the transition from childhood to adulthood is the transition from school, i.e. formal education, to working life, which can be more or less gradual. Depending on the organisation of the education systems, the situation on the labour market and personal choice, this transition can have varying lengths and can be achieved in several ways: some young people switch directly from a life spent exclusively in education to full employment; while for others the change is steadier, combining formal education and employment for a certain period.
Data on the transition from school to work were collected in 2009 through the ad-hoc module on the entry of young people into the labour market which supplemented the regular EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). Two of the indicators on school-to-work transition, ‘Average age when leaving formal education’ and ‘Employment rate after leaving formal education’ stem from this data collection, while the third ‘Average length of the transition from school to work’ is taken straight from the regular EU-LFS.
Average age when leaving formal education
A first indicator on the school-to-work transition process is the average age when people leave the formal education system. In the EU in 2009 the average age of those who left formal education in the preceding five years was 21. However, there is some variation between EU Member States: while in Malta, Bulgaria and Romania, people exit the education system between the ages of 19 and 20, in the Nordic countries people leave formal education around the age of 23. The overall educational attainment explains much of these results: high participation in tertiary education brings the values up; early school leaving brings the average down.
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfso_09t1)
As shown in Figure 9, the level of educational attainment is an important factor in determining the age at which people leave the education system. On average, people with at most lower secondary education leave education at the age of 17, people with upper secondary education at the age of 20, and people with tertiary education at the age of 24. However, there were important variations across EU Member States: whereas in Bulgaria and Romania people with lower secondary attainment left education at the age of 14 (on average), in the Netherlands and Portugal they left close to the age of 20. The age of leaving formal education of people with upper secondary attainment varied between the age of 18 in Bulgaria and the United Kingdom and 22 in Portugal and Denmark (on average). Similarly, the average age when leaving formal education for those with tertiary educational attainment varied between 23 years in the United Kingdom, Malta, France, Cyprus, Greece, Belgium and Spain to almost 27 years in Austria, Slovenia, Finland, Germany and Denmark.
The differences between EU Member States reflect the characteristics of the national educational systems in terms of length, organisation or educational practices. As such, longer upper secondary education brings the average up. Moreover, the practice of repeating classes brings the average up on one side, but allows higher ISCED level on the other side. The phenomenon of early school leaving [1], which varies across EU countries, also has an influence on the average age of leaving education: leaving school early is linked to lower ISCED level and lower age of leaving education.
Average length of the transition from school to work
The period elapsed between leaving formal education and the first significant job (i.e. lasting more than 3 months) is an indicator of the length of the school-to-work transition process. On average, in 2009, young people in the EU had the first significant job 6.5 months after leaving formal education — considering all education levels (Figure 10). The longest transition period — between 10 and 13 months — was registered in Greece, Italy and Romania. By contrast, young people in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands had their first job only 3.5 months after finishing education.
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfso_09t2)
The level of the highest educational qualification has an obvious impact on the transition from school to work. In the EU, the average duration of the transition period to the first significant job was five months for people with tertiary qualification but twice as long for people with lower qualification (about 10 months), and nearly seven months for those with upper secondary qualification.
The discrepancies between EU Member States increased considerably when taking the education level into account. In Greece, the transition period for people with tertiary education (12 months) was more than double the EU average and four times the duration of the best performing countries (Malta, Estonia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic). The shortest transition period for people with upper secondary education was registered in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark (around 4 months), while the longest was registered in Greece and Cyprus (14 months).
People with at most lower secondary education had the longest transition period: 10 months on average. While in Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands the transition period was around 6 months, in Slovakia it was 24 months and in Bulgaria 22 months. Another interesting fact was that while in some countries, like Ireland and Portugal, the transition period was almost the same for all three education level groups, in others the level of education revealed important disparities. In Cyprus and Bulgaria for instance, people with upper secondary education needed between 8 and 9 months more than people with tertiary education to find a job. In Slovakia, people that had finished education with at most a lower secondary degree needed 18 more months to find a job than people with upper secondary education.
Employment rates after leaving formal education
The employment rate is the percentage of employed persons in relation to the comparable total population. For the overall employment rate, the comparison is made with the population of working-age; but employment rates can also be calculated for a particular age group and/or gender in a specific geographical area.
At EU level, 73 % of young people who left formal education in the period 2008–13 were employed in 2013 (Figure 11). The highest values were recorded in the Netherlands where 88 % of young people successfully entered the labour market, followed by Austria (84 %), Luxembourg (82 %), Cyprus and Denmark (both 81 %), Slovenia and Germany (both 80 %). The lowest employment rates were recorded in Italy (59 %) and Spain (60 %).
The education level is again an important differentiating factor. While in the EU-27 84 % of young people with tertiary education were employed, this rate was almost twice as lower (45 %) for people with at most lower secondary education. The highest employment rates among people with tertiary education were found in the Netherlands (95 %) and Malta (94 %), while the lowest rates were registered in Italy (70 %), Spain (73 %) and Greece (74 %). The differences between EU Member States increased with the education level: the highest employment rates among people with secondary education were again found in the Netherlands and Malta (around 89 %), while the lowest rates were registered in Spain and Romania (both 57 %). The largest differences between EU Member States appeared for the people with at most lower secondary education: while in Cyprus, Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands, between 67 % and 70 % of young people were employed, in Slovakia and Bulgaria only around 20 % of young people with lower secondary education were employed in 2009.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_24)
Youth employment
The employment rate is an essential indicator for monitoring the labour market situation. For the 15–29 age group it is calculated as the share of people aged 15–29 who are employed in the total population of this group.
The employment situation of young people varies according to gender, age and educational attainment
In 2013, the EU-28 employment rate for persons aged 15–29 stood at 46 %. However, an analysis by age group delivers a more nuanced image of the labour situation of young people. In 2013, 32 % of young Europeans aged 15–24 were employed, while the employment rate among young Europeans aged 25–29 stood at 71 %.
Characteristics of youth in employment
Figures 12 and 13 show large differences between EU Member States for both age groups. In the 15–24 age group, the highest employment rates in 2013 were recorded in the Netherlands (62 %), followed by Austria and Denmark (both with 54 %). The lowest rate (12 %) was registered in Greece. In the age group 25–29, the highest employment rates were recorded in Malta (83 %), the Netherlands (82 %) and Austria (81 %), while the lowest were again found in Greece (49 %), followed by Italy (53 %) and Spain (58 %).
However, between the beginning of the financial and economic crisis and 2013, there were important developments in the labour situation of young people. While in both age groups the overall employment rate for the EU-28 in 2013 remained five percentage points below its 2008 level, the EU Member States performed differently as regards the labour situation of young people. The labour situation of people aged 15–24 deteriorated the most in Spain (19 percentage points) and Ireland (17 percentage points), while in four EU Member States (Germany, Hungary, Sweden and Malta) it remained almost unchanged (difference below one percentage point). The labour situation of people aged 25–29 shows even bigger differences between EU Member States: while in Greece the percentage of those employed decreased by 24 percentage points between 2008 and 2013, in Germany and Malta it increased slightly (around three percentage points).
Figure 14 illustrates the evolution of the employment rates for the age groups 15–24 and 25–29. The employment rates for these two age groups in the EU-28 evolved in a similar fashion: in 2008, they peaked at 37 % for the age group 15–24 and at 76 % for the age group 25–29 and decreased continuously in the following years.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_010)
Employment rates were generally lower among women (Figure 15). In 2013, the employment rate of young Europeans aged 15–29, stood at 49 % for men and at 43 % for women. With a few exceptions (Ireland and the Netherlands) this pattern was present in every EU Member State albeit in different degrees. The highest difference between men and women was recorded in the Czech Republic (14 percentage points difference), followed by Poland and Slovakia (12 points).
Employment rates among young people varied considerably according to their level of educational attainment (Figure 16): the employment rate of those who had completed a tertiary education was 71 % across the EU-28 in 2013, almost three times higher than the rate of those who had attained no more than primary or lower secondary qualifications (26 %). The EU-28 employment rate of persons with at most upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary qualifications stood at 54 %.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_010)
Temporary and part-time work contracts
Temporary and part-time work contracts are two types of agreement young people come across when entering the labour market.
Temporary employment includes work under a fixed-term contract, as against permanent work where there is no end-date. A job may be considered temporary employment (and its holder a temporary employee) if both employer and employee agree that its end is decided by objective rules (usually written down in a work contract of limited life). These rules can be a specific date, the end of a task, or the return of another employee who has been temporarily replaced.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), part-time employment is defined as regular employment in which working time is substantially less than normal.
Temporary work contracts are quite common among young people entering the labour market. These types of contract, which often include seasonal employment, allow employers to adapt to demands on the labour market, and young people without work experience are more likely to accept them. Besides, employers often use temporary work contracts to assess the capabilities of new recruits before offering them a permanent position.
As shown in Figure 17, temporary work contracts were more widespread in the younger age group: in 2013, 43 % of the people aged 15–24 and 22 % of the people aged 25–29 were employed under temporary work contracts in the EU — a pattern which can be observed in all EU Member States.
There are however substantial differences between EU Member States: the rates of young people (both age groups) working with temporary work contracts in 2013 were the highest in Slovenia, Poland, Spain and Portugal. Slovenia stood out for the high temporary employment rate in the age group 15–24 (74 %). At the other end of the spectrum, Romania and Latvia were amongst the countries with the lowest temporary employment rates in both age groups. In Romania only 6 % of people aged 15–24 and 3 % of those aged 25–29 were temporary employees. Country-specific regulations on temporary work contracts (e.g. maximum duration, renewal possibilities) and differences in national education systems relating to traineeships were some of the factors behind these differences.
For many young people part-time work is a good method for combining education and employment, but it may also be dictated by family or other personal reasons. As is the case for temporary work, part-time work is also more widespread in the younger age group. At EU level, the part-time employment rate among people aged 15–24 stood at 32 % in 2013, while it was twice as low for the 25–29 age group (Figure 18). The highest part-time employment rates in the 15–24 age group were recorded in the Netherlands (78 %) and Denmark (66 %) and the lowest in Croatia and Bulgaria (both 6 %). A similar situation was encountered for the 25–29 age group: the highest part-time employment rates were found in the Netherlands (41 %) and Denmark (26 %) and the lowest in Slovakia (3 %) and Hungary (5 %).
The percentage of those working part-time has increased over the last ten years in both age groups (Figure 19). While between 2003 and 2008, the numbers were stagnating, they increased steadily between 2008 and 2013: from 26 % to 31 % in the age group 15–24, and from 12 % to 15 % in the age group 25–29.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_060)
Part-time employment is not always a matter of personal choice - some people may be working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job.
Involuntary part-time employment refers to part-time workers who declare working part-time because they could not find a full-time job.
From 2007 to 2013, the share of involuntary part-time employees has generally increased in all EU Member States, although there were a few exceptions (Figure 20). The highest increases were recorded in Spain (34 percentage points), Ireland (30 percentage points), Italy (26 percentage points) and Greece (20 percentage points). The share of involuntary part-time workers has decreased in several countries as well, most notably in Belgium (13 percentage points), Germany (12 percentage points) and Malta (9 percentage points).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_080)
The prevalence of part-time work contracts differed significantly between men and women (Figure 21). In 2013 the rate of young women working part-time (31 %) was almost twice as high as the rate of men (16 %) in the EU-28. The highest difference between women and men was observed in the Netherlands and Sweden (24 percentage points). Romania on the other hand had slightly more men working part time than women (a difference of almost two percentage points), the only such occurrence among EU Member States.
The differences between women and men with regard to part-time employment could be related to the fact that women dedicate more time to family responsibilities. Figure 22 illustrates that looking after children or adults in need of care was a reason for part-time work for 14 % of young women against 1 % of men. On the contrary, being in education or training was a more important reason for men (50 %) than for women (36 %).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_070)
Looking at the main reasons for part-time employment by age group, participation in education or training (56 %) and the impossibility of finding a full-time job (30 %) topped the list for the younger age group (15–24). The reasons for the 25–29 age group were slightly different: for 40 % of them, the main reason were the impossibility of finding a full-time job, followed by family or personal responsibilities (24 %) and the participation in education or training (20 %) (Figure 23).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_070)
Youth unemployment
Unemployment among young people
Young people, especially those with lower qualifications, still face difficulties in finding a job
The unemployment rate of young people has been increasing in the years following the financial and economic crisis, reflecting the difficulties faced by young people in finding a job. In labour market policies, the main indicator for youth unemployment is called the ‘youth unemployment rate’ and refers to the age group 15–24.
The youth unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed young people in the age group 15–24 compared to the total labour force in that age group.
The active population, also called labour force, includes both employed and unemployed people, but not the economically inactive, such as pre-school children, school children, students and pensioners.
In 2013, 23 % of the EU’s labour force in the 15–24 age group and 15 % of its labour force in the 25–29 age group were unemployed (Figure 24). In all EU Member States the unemployment rates were higher in the younger age group. The unemployment situation of young people varied largely between EU Member States, but similar trends in the performance of national labour markets could be observed for both age groups. In both groups, the highest unemployment rates were recorded in Greece, Spain and Croatia, while the lowest rates were registered in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Malta. As such, the unemployment rate in Greece stood at 58 % for people aged 15–24 and 44 % for people aged 25–29. In Spain the unemployment rates stood at 56 % and 33 % respectively. The lowest unemployment rates for the 15–24 age group were found in Germany (8 %) and Austria (9 %). For the 25–29 age group, unemployment rates slightly below 7 % were recorded in Malta, Austria and Germany.
Since many young people are still studying full time, they are not available for work and are considered as being outside the labour force. Therefore, when presenting the labour situation of young people, the main indicator for unemployment, the unemployment rate, is often complemented by another indicator, the unemployment ratio, which compares the number of unemployed with the total population, and not only the labour force.
The youth unemployment ratio is the percentage of unemployed young people in the age group 15–24 compared to the total population of that age group (employed, unemployed and inactive).
Inactive persons are persons who are not in the labour force (employed or unemployed). The inactive population can include pre-school children, school children, students, pensioners and housewives or -men, for example. Provided they are not working at all and either not available or looking for work; some of these may be of working-age.
The unemployment ratio, which not only takes into account the size of the young labour force, but the young population (active and inactive) as a whole, provides a more accurate reflection of the unemployment situation of young people. Thus, in 2013, the unemployment ratio in the EU-28 stood at 10 % for the age group 15–24 and at 12 % for the age group 25–29 (Figure 25). The unemployment ratio is by definition always smaller than the unemployment rate.
As shown in Figures 24 and 25, the difference was bigger for the age group 15–24. Moreover, although the employment rates were higher for the age group 15–24, the unemployment ratios were higher for the age group 25–29. This is due to the fact that more people in the younger age category were in education and thus unavailable for work. For the age group 15–24, the highest unemployment ratios were found in Spain (21 %) and Greece (17 %) and the lowest in Germany and Luxembourg (both 4 %). For the age group 25–29, the highest unemployment ratios were found in Greece (37 %) and Spain (29 %) and the lowest in Malta, Germany and Austria (all three slightly below 6 %).
Looking at the evolution of the unemployment rates over the last ten years (Figure 26) shows that they decreased for both age groups between 2004 and the beginning of the financial and economic crisis. Since the crisis however they have increased steadily, reaching their highest levels for 10 years in 2013. From 2008 to 2013 the unemployment rate increased by almost 8 percentage points for the 15–24 age group, and by 6 percentage points for the 25–29 age group.
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_090)
Educational attainment is an important differentiating factor when assessing the magnitude of unemployment rates. In all EU Member States, except Romania, it appears that the higher the education level, the lower the unemployment rate. On average, the unemployment rate of people with at most lower secondary education (30 %) was almost two times higher than the unemployment rate of people with tertiary education (Figure 27).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_090)
Long-term unemployment among young people
Long-term unemployment is one of the main concerns of policymakers. Apart from its financial and social effects on personal life, long-term unemployment negatively affects social cohesion and, ultimately, may hinder economic growth.
The long-term unemployment rate is defined as the share of unemployed persons since 12 months or more in the total number of active persons in the labour market.
In the EU-28 the percentage of young people who were long-term unemployed has steadily grown after the financial and economic crisis. The same pattern was observed for both age groups (15–24 and 25–29): a gradual decrease of nearly 2.5 percentage points was registered between 2003 and 2008 followed by a gradual increase of 4 percentage points between 2008 and 2013 (Figure 28).
(%)
Source: Eurostat (yth_empl_120)
Long-term unemployment varied considerably across EU Member States (Figure 29). Greece stood out with high long-term unemployment rates in both age groups: 30 % of the active young people aged 15–24 and 29 % of active young people aged 25–29. High long-term unemployment rates for the age group 15–29 were also recorded in Croatia (25 %) and Spain (22 %). At the other end of the spectrum the long-term unemployment rates for both age groups of young people in Austria, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany were below 2 %.
Data sources and availability
The main source of the data presented in this article is the EU labour force survey (EU-LFS), a large sample survey among private households which provides detailed annual and quarterly data on employment, unemployment and inactivity. The data can be broken down along many dimensions including age, gender, educational attainment, and distinctions between permanent/temporary and full-time/part-time employment.
The concepts and definitions used in the EU-LFS follow the guidelines of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The data on young people who are neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET) correspond to the percentage of the population of a given age group and gender not employed and not involved in further education or training.
Context
Young people are a priority for the European Union’s social vision, and the current crisis compounds the need to sustain young human capital. In November 2009, the Council of Youth Ministers adopted the EU Youth Strategy for 2010–18 which has two overall objectives:
- to provide more and equal opportunities for young people in education and in the labour market; and
- to promote active citizenship and social inclusion for all young people.
The Open Method of Coordination supports the implementation of the strategy which should create favourable conditions for young people to develop their skills, fulfil their potential, work, and actively participate in society. In this framework youth statistics are an essential tool to support evidence-based policy-making in the various domains covered by the strategy.
The focus on young people was reinforced with the adoption in June 2010 of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth which includes a number of concrete initiatives to support them in getting jobs and dealing with related challenges during this crisis. Quality education and training, successful labour market integration and increased mobility are key to unleashing all of the young people's potential and achieving the Europe 2020 objectives.
Youth on the Move presents a framework of policy priorities for action at national and EU level to reduce youth unemployment by facilitating the transition from school to work and reducing labour market segmentation. Particular focus is put on the role of public employment services, promoting the Youth Guarantee scheme to ensure all young people are in a job, in education or in activation, creating a European Vacancy Monitor and supporting young entrepreneurs.
The Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting of May 2012 concluded that ‘the current economic crisis accentuates the importance of the education to work transition. Ensuring that young people leave education and training with the best possible support to obtain their first job is critical. Young people who face unemployment or a slow transition may experience long-term adverse effects in terms of future labour market success, earnings or family formation. This may in turn jeopardise public and private investment in their education and training, which results in a loss for society as a whole. This is particularly true in the context of demographic challenges, which put added pressure on Europe's increasingly scarce young people to integrate quickly and effectively into the labour market’. This meeting allowed an EU benchmark to be set for the year 2020 which focuses on the transition from education and training into the labour market and facilitates policy exchanges under the Education and Training 2020 (ET2020) framework on measures to enhance the employability of graduates.
See also
Further Eurostat information
Main tables
Database
- Education (educ)
- Educational attainment and outcomes of education (edat)
- LFS main indicators (lfsi)
- LFS series - Detailed annual survey results (lfsa)
Dedicated section
Methodology / Metadata
- Education (ESMS metadata file - educ_esms)
- Educational attainment and outcomes of education (ESMS metadata file - edat_esms)
- Employment and unemployment (Labour Force Survey) (ESMS metadata file - employ_esms)
- LFS main indicators (ESMS metadata file - lfsi_esms)
- LFS series - Detailed annual survey results (ESMS metadata file - lfsa_esms)
Source data for tables, figures and maps (MS Excel)
External links
- European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion
- Europe 2020
- Education and training strategy 2020
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
Notes
- ↑ For more details on early school leaving please see the article on education from this publication.