Tackling youth unemployment together
1,059 views · Published 30 January 2013 · 2:16 · Indexed 4 November 2026
Channel: European Parliament · 2013 · News & Politics
Comment on European Parliament Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/europeanparliament Looking for jobs: they're in good company. By the end of last year 7.5 million people aged between 15 and 24 were without jobs, education or training. For under-30s, it rises to 14 million, that's 15% of the EU's young, including those with science degrees. I have friends now living in the States, in China, in Africa, in South America... I have a lot of friends scattered all over the world, who have the possibility to find decent jobs, but I have a lot without the skills, like languages, or who've never been abroad. That's what this meeting was about, at least partly: Members of the EP and national parliaments discussing the need to address the problem of 'the lost generation' -- no jobs, no hope. I think this is one of the most under-estimated urgencies in Europe: youth unemployment and the risks of exclusion. We could lose an entire generation in countries like Spain and Greece. The economic cost of this and the social cost is huge. The economic cost has been estimated by the European Dublin Foundation to be in excess of €150 billion a year. For organisations like the European Youth Forum, this is the urgent topic. They want children to be taught the skills for work with high quality traineeships and jobs that are secure. The politicians are acting -- but only now that things have got so bad. It took the numbers to grow so incredibly in order to get something done, at least at the rhetorical level, at the level of the decision-makers. Politicians know: dealing with unemployment on this scale won't be cheap but doing nothing will cost more. Even the EU's Youth Guarantee Scheme -- a job, further education or training for youngsters out of work for four months -- requires Member States to agree the EU's next budget. Sometimes we see Member States leave youth and education behind, especially in the Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations, but this time there is a need for states to really invest and really to take this problem seriously and to invest in creating jobs for young people. The problem is so vast it won't be solved overnight. Meanwhile, Europe's young go on scouring the 'jobs vacant' columns. EuroparlTV video ID: 3d8049d1-6c9a-45f8-a648-a1550109c772
