How are young people faring in the jobs crisis?

The 2008-09 recession and the resulting jobs crisis had a dramatic impact on youth unemployment. In the OECD area, the youth unemployment rate reached a post-war high of 19% in 2010. Even though a recovery is now underway, the youth unemployment rate is projected to decline only slowly. The current shift to fiscal consolidation in a growing number of OECD countries is challenging and calls for even better designed and targeted policies. The goals of facilitating the school-to-work transition and improving labour market prospects for all youth are more urgent than ever. If these goals are not achieved and the numbers of disadvantaged youth swelled significantly, there is a high risk of creating a large hard-core group of youth left behind with “scarring” effects and perpetuating poor employment prospects for youth in the longer term.