RECENT TRENDS IN YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT. ESRI General Research Paper. 1983

This paper attempts to highlight some salient aspects of youth unemployment which have emerged over recent years. The detailed analyses presented mainly relate to the period since 1979, which as we are all too well aware, encompasses a time of severe economic recession, which is still very much with us. Particularly difficult problems arose in the youth labour market during this time and it is hoped that this paper will help to promote a better understanding of the situation as it has evolved and provide some guidance for the future, both in trying to assess the likely shape of future developments and in suggesting directions which policy might follow. For the purposes of this paper we will take the "youth sector" as referring to all persons aged less than 25 years, which is now a more or less universally accepted definition. Basically this study consists of a number of parts. The rest of this chapter reviews the changes in the labour force over the last two decades with particular reference to the youth population; in Chapter II we analyse particular aspects of the recent trend in youth unemployment while Chapter III contains an examination of the experience of young persons who left the Irish educational system during the last few years. Chapter IV discusses implications arising from our findings and considers some policy aspects which will be of relevance in the years ahead. Chapter V summarises the analyses and the findings