THE LATEST Live Register figures show again how young people are bearing the brunt of the recession. Out of a total of 423,000 people signing on, some 95,400 are under the age of 25, according to the latest Central Statistics Office data. Although youth unemployment is a growing problem in almost every European Union member state, it is particularly acute here. Joblessness among young people in Ireland is on course to reach 25 per cent before the end of the year, compared to an EU average of 18 per cent.
Next week thousands of school leavers are due to receive their Leaving Certificate results, and significant numbers will be graduating from colleges and universities. It should be a period of hope and optimism for the future – and for very many it is. But times have changed and uncertainty prevails. Thousands of those seeking work will end up signing on for unemployment benefits and others will have to lower their expectations and apply for lower-paid jobs outside their area of qualification.
Yet, graduates are just part of the story. Those lured out of formal education and into well-paid jobs at the height of the boom are most at risk of long-term unemployment. Studies have shown that prolonged spells out of work for those about to enter the labour market can leave permanent scars including job instability and slow career progression.
With no sign of immediate economic recovery, the need to tackle these issues is obvious. The Government has responded through a doubling of the number of Fás placements as well as a work placement and training programme. These measures are welcome, but woefully insufficient. The work placement programme, for example, will remove just 2,000 young people from the Live Register, while a separate training programme for under-25s will provide opportunities for just over 270 young people.
Measures to get young people back into the workforce will require more ambition, imagination and funding. The UK government, for instance, has announced a fund of £1 billion to create jobs and work experience for up to 150,000 from this cohort. It will allow companies to bid for funding to help create jobs that will last for at least six months. Ultimately, education and training is a smart investment: a Forfás report on future skills last year estimated that half a million workers will need to improve their educational qualifications by 2020 if Ireland is to continue to compete in the global marketplace.
The Government has talked much about the importance of tackling youth unemployment but its actions are unconvincing. If its approach is to amount to anything more than a sticking plaster, it must adopt remedies that are carefully focused, targeting worst affected sectors as well as helping to prevent long-term unemployment in a new generation. Reductions in public spending are essential given exchequer finances but they must be balanced with innovative job creation measures to reduce the prospect of prolonging the downturn. Young people need opportunities, not rhetoric.