Inclusiveness of European Union labour markets in relation to young people

Abstract

In the recent years the professional situation of young people (aged 15–24) compared to that of older age groups (referred to as adults) has deteriorated. In 2020 the unemployment rate among young people in 23 European Union countries (in 19 countries in 2019, which was the last year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic) was, compared to 2003, significantly higher than that of adults, showing a growing gap between the situation of these two groups of workers on the labour market. The aim of the paper is to assess the situation of young people on the EU labour markets. The analyses based on data obtained from Eurostat cover the years 2003–2020. For the purposes of the analyses, the concept of ‘labour market inclusiveness’ was introduced, understood as a feature of the economy in which access to jobs is similar for all groups of economically active people. The inclusiveness of the national labour markets in the EU has been defined from a static and long-term perspective. For the long-term approach, the method of statistical measurement of α inclusiveness was applied. The final result of the analysis is a typology of the EU labour markets developed on the basis of the proposed definitions, taking into account the level of inclusiveness and the availability of jobs for young people and adults. The research confirms that the national labour markets are considerably diversified. These differences are visible in terms of the unemployment of young people and adults, the reaction of markets to economic shocks and the level of labour market inclusiveness.

Reactiveness and inclusiveness as the characteristics of regional labour markets regarding the situation of young people

“…The inclusiveness of regional labour markets is understood as the level of inclusion of people from the particular group (e.g. young people) to work (employment) (Bal-Domańska, 2022). Inclusiveness defined in this way can be identified through the association between the unemployment level of young people (aged 15-24) and adults (aged 25 and above).…”

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“…The consequences of shocks may affect all employees, however, young people at the beginning of their professional career remain the most exposed to the negative effects of shocks. The unemployment rate and its changes are significantly more extensive for the group of young people compared to that of adults (Bal-Domańska, 2022). One of the negative effects of the high reactiveness of regional labour markets to shocks is an increase in the disproportions in the unemployment rates of young people and adults, i.e.…”

“…Numerous analyses unanimously confirm that young people have a clearly weaker position in the labour market in many countries (regions), which translates into a high unemployment rate. These differences are estimated at the level of approximately twice the unemployment rate of adults (Perugini & Signorelli, 2010), (Bal-Domańska, 2021), (Bal-Domańska, 2022). Moreover, even when they do find jobs during shocks (recessions), the jobs are more likely to be lower quality and with lower pay than the jobs they could expect to find during economic expansions (Kahn, 2010), (Forsythe, 2021).…”