Today, Europe’s youth are facing a serious challenge in terms of employability, which has become even more acute due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In many places, the situation was very difficult even before 2019, but the effects of the pandemic have further complicated the situation.
As of July 2020, 2.906 million young people (under the age of 25) were unemployed in the EU, including 2.338 million in the eurozone. In July 2020, the youth unemployment rate was 17.0% in the EU and 17.3% in the eurozone, up from 16.9% and 17.2%, respectively, in the previous month. The countries with the highest youth unemployment rates are Spain (42%) and Romania (31.2%), while Cyprus has 9.4% youth unemployment and Poland 9.5%.
As of December 2022, it was 6.4% for young women in the EU, while it was 5.8% for men. The war in Ukraine also proved to be a significant indicator, resulting in an increase in the number of refugees seeking work in EU countries.
Socio-economic realities complicate young people’s access to the labor market and hinder the quality of life for them and their families, lowering their well-being, conditioning their personal and social development. One of the goals set by the European Union
European Union in its 2020 strategy focused on the desire to generate higher and better levels of:
- employment,
- productivity
- and social cohesion.
It seeks to ensure employment for 75% of people between the ages of 24 and 64.
Given this situation, the European framework is raising other instruments for employment growth recognizing tools such as entrepreneurship as strategies to improve access to self-employment for young people. On the part of European Youth Cooperation, it aims to invest in this area and educate young people by promoting their autonomy and potential to contribute to social development; promoting innovative ideas and the exchange of good practices, learning does not create, l fostering innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
