Youth unemployment in South-East Asia and the Pacific
Youth unemployment rates in South-East Asia and the Pacific are considerably higher than in East Asia and South Asia: the regional rate in South-East Asia and the Pacific reached 13.1 per cent in 2012. Young people in this region seem to be particularly challenged to find jobs. The ratio of youth to-adult unemployment rates is estimated at 5.2 in 2012. In other words, young people in South-East Asia and the Pacific are over five times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Globally, in 2012, the same ratio was 2.8, and in South Asia it was 4.0.
Nevertheless, trends in youth unemployment have been encouraging in at least the two most populous countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific: the Philippines and Indonesia. In Indonesia, youth unemployment has declined significantly from 23.0 per cent in 2011 to 19.6 per cent in 2012.The same rate in the Philippines was 16.0 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, compared with 18.8 per cent in the same period of 2010. However, since 2008, part-time work seemed to have gained an increasingly significant part on the labour market, considered as one of the possible policy responses to adjust unemployment in the Philippines. Surveys reveal that in many countries, including Indonesia, a large share of part-time workers would prefer working full time.
How the youth guarantee concept could be applied to South-East Asia and the Pacific?
Several countries in Europe (e.g. Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands) and East Asia and the Pacific (e.g. Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) have had positive experience in using youth guarantees to prevent unemployment during the school-work transition.
The real challenge for developing countries in Asia and the Pacific would be how to design and implement effective nationally defined youth guarantees. There is still a need for well-functioning labour market institutions, more effective public employment services, improved quality of vocational training and enhanced social security systems. Nonetheless, recently, in most developing countries in Asia, governments have started to invest into public employment services and social protection on which youth guarantees can be built.
The ILO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is now starting a study on Youth Guarantees in the ASEAN: Reviewing Challenges and Opportunities
. The study will highlight regional tendencies and needs, and it will offer recommendations to policy makers in the region.