Nearly 8 million young Latin Americans are unemployed
Unemployment hits 7.8 million Latin American youth aged 15 to 24 years, assures the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The report "Decent Work and Youth in Latin America: Policies for Action," presented in February by the ILO publishes data on the problem of unemployment, informality and lack of opportunities faced by the youth of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The report was coordinated by Guillermo Dema, regional specialist in Latin America and the Caribbean and contains 297 pages that show that even with the economic growth in Latin America, the unemployment rate remains high and the data is unsatisfactory for the development of educational systems and insertion of youth in work and society.
Data that make up the report relate to 2011 and show that 55.6 % of young people work in the informal sector; of every 10 young people working, six are in unlawful labor conditions and 21.8 million young people do not study, much less work. The report concludes that Latin American youth are living between the problems of informality and unemployment. The ILO Director-General, Guy Rider, states that "lack of access to opportunities for decent work generates frustration and discouragement among youth". "A lack of decent work opportunities generalized frustration and disappointment among the youth."
The ILO states that education is a fundamental right and a decisive factor for the development of countries. According to the diagrams in the document, Latin America and the Caribbean reported in the 90s significant progress in access to primary education, but the rates of access to secondary education are still low.
The report states that 50 million young people in Latin America and the Caribbean have troubling indicators with the labor market and draw attention to the urgent development of different policies such as labor training programs, social protection, decent work conditions, legalization of youth and educational inclusion programs. The ILO recommends that youth employment policies are designed to facilitate the transition from school to work to increase the integration of youth into the labor market.
The report concludes that it is necessary to prioritize access to education, develop an enabling environment for the business sector, create decent jobs, promote the strengthening of social dialogue, combat informality of youth work and generate social policies that enhance educational programmes for the youth.