Inclusive social development: The next generation of policies for overcoming poverty and reducing inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Inclusive social development: the next generation of policies for overcoming poverty...
Figure I.16
Latin America and the Caribbean (26 countries): unemployment rates
and variation in rates by age group
(Percentages)
A. Unemployment rates, around 2012 or latest year available
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
46.1
42.0
33.8 34.0
22.8 27.5 30.1 24.9
18.2 18.3 18.9 19.4 20.2
18.8 20.6 21.0
5.4 8.5 9.1 11.6 12.0 12.7 12.7 14.5 14.5 15.5 15.8 15.9 16.2 16.5 11.5
2.7 3.6 4.7 4.4 4.8 4.8 6.5 5.0 6.2 8.4 11.1 12.7
6.4 6.7 7.4 7.7 6.3 7.2 7.9 7.8 7.8
Guatemala, 2006
Bolivia
(Plur. State of), 2011
Mexico, 2012
Peru, 2012
Chapter I
Trinidad and
Tobago, 2012
Panama, 2012
Honduras, 2012
Ecuador, 2012
El Salvador, 2012
Nicaragua, 2009
Paraguay, 2011
Brazil, 2012
Venezuela
(Bol. Rep. of), 2012
Dominican Rep., 2012
Uruguay, 2012
Argentina, 2012
Bahamas, 2007
Costa Rica, 2012
Chile, 2011
15-24 years 15 years and over
Colombia, 2012
Barbados, 2010
Jamaica, 2001
Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, 2008
Saint Lucia, 2010
Grenada, 2008
Guyana, 2011
20
B. Variation in unemployment rates, 2000-2015 a
18
16
14
15.7
16.4
14.7
13.4
12
10
8
6
6.4
5.7 5.1
4.9
4
2
0
2000 2005 2010 2015 b
15-24 years 25 years and over
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of data from household surveys conducted in
the countries. For Caribbean countries: World Bank, “Youth unemployment in the Caribbean”, Caribbean Knowledge Series, Washington, D.C., 2014; and
International Labour Organization (ILO), Labour Overview 2013, Lima, ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2013.
a
Simple average for 18 countries.
b
Data for 2015 are projections.
Labour-market participation is also hampered by the socioeconomic conditions in which the young people
have grown up and developed. In the different countries, unemployment rates are lower among the higher income
quintiles, which correspond to those with higher levels of schooling. This underscores the importance of education in
entering and remaining in the job market. At the regional level, youth unemployment in the highest income quintiles
is a third of that found in the poorest quintiles (ECLAC, 2014a).
Most working young people are wage earners (79%), while a lower proportion (19%) work independently or region
own-account workers; this is in contrast to those aged over 30, where the difference is less pronounced: 56% and 37%,
respectively (see figure I.17). Thus, as age and work experience increase, so does the incidence of unwaged work.
At the same time, young people’s participation in the labour market is characterized by high levels of turnover,
segmentation and precariosness, which hinders the development of employment histories that are stable and improve
over time. According to ILO (2013c), this situation poses a political challenge, as the desire to work and build a
life based on employment comes up against the reality of a job market in which young people must deal with high
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