Roperos: Angry jobless youth

Thursday, February 23, 2012

THERE is this story in the International Herald Tribune Friday last week about Britain’s hordes of frustrated jobless youths. It seems that the British youth have been affected by the economic “downturn” going on in Europe during the past many months. Austerity as “corrective” measure has somehow alienated the youth from job opportunities.

It seems that the youth are not working, and neither are they in college or undergoing training, so they are truly in a bind. They might as well become a thief, said one of the frustrated female job hunters in London. The report further pointed out that the most debilitating consequence of the current European economic experience with its debt-driven austerity crusade is the rise in youth unemployment.

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Pointed to as an example of the prevailing European economic downturn is the “soaring” rate of Spanish youth unemployment and joblessness. Jobless youth with ages 16 to 24 years old are estimated to be about 50 percent, while in Greece it is 48 percent.

Portugal and Italy is 30 percent, while in Britain it is said to be 22.3 percent, reportedly the highest level ever noted since the data was first collated in 1992.

The problem in Britain is that many of this generation’s youth, while aggressively wanting and hunting for jobs all over the European continent, are not adequately trained and thus youths who are employable are forced to remain under government assistance or support. They are said to be classified as NEETS, for being not in education, employment or training. “They number about 1.3 million, or one in every five of 16-24 years old.”

While youth unemployment has long been a chronic issue in Britain, experts say the British government’s debt-reduction commitment to rein in social spending appears to be making the problem worse. Insufficient job training and apprenticeship programs, they argue, contribute to the large pool of permanently unemployed young people in Britain. In a sense, at the moment, windows of opportunity are truly sinking for the British youth.

It is said that in the most recent fiscal year, the British government paid 4.2 billion pounds or $6.6 billion in benefits for this age group, at least some of which might be better spent on job training. It could have been utilized for a well-financed apprenticeship program. But in 2010, fewer than one in ten British employers offered apprenticeship. On the other hand, employers in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland did better.

Now, how about us in the Philippines? How are we doing with our hordes of jobless Filipino youth? I think we are doing better, judged from the hundreds of Filipino workers we are sending abroad every month to work in other countries as skilled workers. Indeed, are we not getting millions of dollars in remittances from them?