Youth Unemployment: Déjà Vu? - Index of - IZA

In our view there is little evidence to support large scale, active labour market programs
to help the young or any other group. In a recession when unemployment rates are high
job placement rates from any ALMP are likely to plummet and the schemes are unlikely
to provide adequate rates of return.
b) Expansion of education.
A traditional response of young people in recessions is to withdraw from the labour force.
Applications to colleges and universities rise. This is a sensible response and to be
encouraged. Temporary expansion of the number of places in higher and tertiary
education makes sense. Possibilities exist to also encourage young people to remain in
high school, perhaps with financial inducements. Given the declining size of the youth
cohort any expansion in the numbers is likely to be temporary as the cohort size declines
and the recession recedes.
c) Wage/employment subsidies for the young
Given the evidence that a spell of unemployment while young has especially harmful
effects there is an argument to provide subsidies to private sector firms to hire them. This
could take the form of a subsidy for every additional new worker hired. The concern
would be that older workers would be fired but the subsidy should be based on additional
net hires.
d) Incentives for hiring the young in public sector organisations such as in education and
health
One possibility would be to allow public sector organisations to hire young people for
say, two years, and pay them the equivalent of the benefits they would have received on
unemployment benefits. This would be subsidized training.
e) Lowering the minimum wage for the young.
Where the minimum wage is high there is an argument to have it lowered. The issue is
whether there is evidence that it is a binding constraint. One possibility would be to
temporarily remove it for anyone under age 25, for two years.
iii) Support initiatives from the private sector
In the UK the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) which is the main employer’s
association, has come up with a five-point plan to help reduce youth unemployment.
Much of their programme is consonant with our findings regarding youth unemployment.
Their proposals would seem to be relevant for many countries that are seeking to return
to growth. In our view, their approach is worthy of support.
1. Help employers to offer more apprenticeships
· a subsidy for firms that offer additional apprenticeships to young people, or
employ an apprentice for the first time. This money would not subsidize existing
apprenticeship places
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