YOUTH LABOR MARKET EVOLUTION UNDER THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

ct The onset of the health crisis found the youth labor market still fragile after the economic and financial crisis in 2008-2009. In the period 2012-2019, at the level of the European Union, the employment rate among young people (15-29 years old) increased from 49.9% to 57.3%, but did not reach the value before the crisis (61.7% in 2007). The unemployment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points during 2012-2014, after which it continued to decrease, reaching 10.8% in 2019. However, these aggregate figures mask considerable variations and inequalities between Member States. In addition, the share of NEET youth did not decrease significantly during the post-crisis period. As the pandemic spread, the prevalence of NEET status, inactivity in the labor market and informal work among young people increased even more than unemployment among them. The economic and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic have been and still are significant on young people. The health crisis has been particularly severe for young people causing disruptions in their education, training and learning in the workplace, but also the loss of jobs and income, increasing the difficulties of young people looking for a job. The paper presents an analysis of the evolution of the labor market for young people aged 15 to 29, in terms of employment, unemployment and NEET rate, highlighting the differences between young people by various age segments and level of education, along with disparities of gen.

Keywords

• youth
• unemployment
• employment
• neet rate
• inactivity