Contents

Preface iii

Acknowledgements ix

Acronyms and abbreviations x

Executive summary xiv

. 1Global and regional outlook for youth labour markets 1

1.1. Youth unemployment 1

1.1.1. Youth unemployment on the rise 2

1.1.2. Worsening youth unemployment in most subregions 2

1.1.3. Youth unemployment burden exceeds that of adults 7

1.1.4. Certain youth struggle more in the job search 8

1.1.5. What will the next years bring? 13

1.2. Not in employment, education or training 15

1.2.1. NEET rates are rising again globally and across all subregions but one 15

1.2.2. The NEET storyline is gendered 16

1.2.3. What will the next years bring? 17

1.3. Youth employment 19

1.3.1. Youth employment grows, but slower than the youth population 19

1.3.2. A hollowing out of medium-skilled jobs for youth 21

1.3.3. What will the next years bring? 24

1.4. Employed and thriving? The job and income security storyline 25

2. What is behind stagnating progress in youth labour markets? 31

2.1. The macro effects 31

2.1.1. The capacity of economies to create jobs for youth is declining 31

2.1.2. Conflicts are still on the rise 33

2.2. The AI in the room 34

2.3. Job experience inflation 38

2.4. Summary 38

3. Promoting decent work for youth in turbulent times 43

3.1. Introduction 43

3.2. The standards of a youth employment policy package 44

3.3. Adaptive policies to ease impacts of future-of-work disruptions 48

References 55

Annexes 61

A. Additional tables and figures 62

B. Media sentiment, methodology and data context 75