According to the report, young people’s employment prospects in Asia and the Pacific are severely challenged as a result of the pandemic. Youth (15–24 years) will be hit harder than adults in the immediate crisis and also risk bearing higher longer-term economic and social costs.
Through the report, ILO and ADB call on governments in the region to adopt urgent, large-scale and targeted measures to generate jobs for youth, keep education and training on track, and to minimize future scarring of more than 660 million young people in the region.
“The pre-crisis challenges for youth are now amplified since COVID-19 hit. Without sufficient attention, our fear is that this risks creating a ‘lockdown generation’ that could feel the weight of this crisis for many years to come,” says Sara Elder, a lead author of the report and Head of the ILO Regional Economic and Social Analysis unit.
The report cites three ways in which young people are affected in the current crisis: (1) job disruptions in the form of reduced working hours and earnings, and job losses for both paid workers and the self-employed; (2) disruptions in their education and training; and (3) difficulties in transitioning from school to work, and moving between jobs in a recession.
Disruption to youth employment in hard-hit sectors
Between 10 and 15 million youth jobs (full-time equivalent) may be lost across 13 countries in Asia and the Pacific in 2020, according to the report’s projections. In Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, youth unemployment rates are expected to reach at least double the 2019 estimates. According to the report, one of the reasons young people in the region face greater labour market disruption and job losses than adults is that nearly half of them (more than 100 million) were employed in the four sectors hardest hit by the crisis: the wholesale and retail trade and repair; manufacturing; rental and business services; and accommodation and food services. Young women are overrepresented in three of the four most affected sectors, particularly in accommodation and food services.
Tackling the youth employment crisis in Asia and the Pacific
The report recommends urgent, large-scale and targeted responses, including youth-targeted wage subsidies and public employment programmes, and measures to mitigate the impact on students of the disruption to their education and training. Governments should consider balancing (i) the inclusion of youth in wider labour market and economic recovery measures, with (ii) youth-targeted interventions to maximize effective allocation of resources.
“Prioritizing youth employment in the COVID-19 recovery process will improve Asia and the Pacific’s future prospects for inclusive and sustainable growth, demographic transition and social stability,’’ says Chris Morris, Head of the ADB NGO and Civil Society Center, and leading ADB’s Youth for Asia initiative.
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