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On the occasion of International Youth Day, the International Labor Organization publishes a report on youth employment in the world. According to the document, the number of unemployed young people should fall in 2022, but remain above its level before the coronavirus pandemic, with still major gaps between countries but also between young men and young women.
The decline in unemployment among young people aged 15 to 24 is slow. The Covid-19 pandemic has hurt young people more than any other age group. In 2022, the number of young job seekers worldwide is expected to fall by 2 million compared to 2021, to reach 73 million. A figure 6 million higher than in 2019 before the pandemic.
Unsurprisingly, young women have more difficulty finding a job, the report predicts that in 2022 only 27% of them compared to 40% of young men will be hired. This gender gap remains constant and is greater in middle- and low-income countries.
Overall, the youth labor market recovery is most dynamic in high-income countries. The unemployment rate should this year return to that of before the health crisis.
While youth unemployment in Asia and Europe is expected to remain 1.5 percentage points higher than the global average, the number of unemployed youth would be highest in the Arab States. In Latin America, the youth unemployment rate is also worrying: it is expected to reach 20.5% this year. As for Africa, the report estimates that the unemployment rate of almost 13% among young people does not reflect reality, as many of them have withdrawn from the labor market.