The unemployment crisis.. Why are traditional indicators not enough to understand the scale of the problem?

TheCrisisUnemploymentAmong youth represents one of the most pressing challenges in today’s world, as a true test of the ability of countries to achieve equitable sustainable development. Because young people constitute the most dynamic population bloc; Therefore, any defect in their integration with good education and decent work directly reflects on economic growth, social stability, and the future ofhuman capital.
Despite the importance of this crisis, the discussion about the youth unemployment crisis has been governed for many years by traditional indicators that reduce the crisis to the numbers of job seekers, without paying attention to the broad categories of youth who have completely dropped out of the circles of work and education.

With the escalation of social inequality after the Covid-19 pandemic, there has emerged an urgent need to reconsider how unemployment itself is measured, based on the fact that measurement is an essential input for understanding the problem and formulating more realistic solutions.

Youth unemployment: beyond the numbers

First, we must realize that most countries rely on the traditional unemployment rate in measuring the unemployment crisis, as it is a main indicator for measuring the conditions of young people in the labor market, but this indicator only monitors a limited group, namely unemployed youth and those actively searching for a job.

With this definition, a large segment of young people who have lost their hope of finding decent work, or who have been forced to withdraw from the labor market, are excluded. Due to poor opportunities, social restrictions, or family responsibilities.
This narrow approach often leads to underestimating the extent of the unemployment crisis, and creates a gap between lived reality and official data. In some contexts, the unemployment rate may appear relatively low, while large segments of youth suffer from economic exclusion and social instability.

Hence,Unemploymenttransforms from a matter of numbers into a complex phenomenon in which economic, educational, and social factors intersect; Therefore, it has become necessary – in order to overcome this shortcoming in measuring the crisis – to have more comprehensive indicators, capable of reflecting the reality of young people outside the labor market and education together.

NEET indicatorNEETA broader lens for understanding unemployment

In the face of these limitations, the NEET index emerged, which is an acronym (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). It refers to young people who are not enrolled in education, work, or training, and is used globally to measure the integration of young people into the fields of education and the labor market. Its importance lies in being an early indicator and warning of the dangers of social and economic exclusion. Which makes it an essential tool for directing youth empowerment policies in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Estimates of the International Labor Organizationindicate that about 262 million young men and women in the world will fall within the category of this indicator in 2025; That is equivalent to one young person out of every four young people.
Therefore, the NEET index goes beyond being an economic measurement tool to become a mirror of the social reality that determines young people’s opportunities for integration or exclusion. If obstacles to education and work accumulate, unemployment intersects with broader patterns of fragility and inequality, which is clearly demonstrated by a deeper reading of the data for this indicator.

Unemployment, social fragility and inequality

Yes, a deeper reading of the NEET index data reveals that unemployment among youth is strongly linked to patterns of social fragility and unequal opportunities. In many countries, NEET scores are higher in rural areas than in urban areas, where opportunities for quality education and decent work are less.

NEET index rates also decrease as the educational level increases. This directly reflects the crucial role that quality education plays in reducing all aspects of exclusion and combating all risks of a labor market that is extremely changing and accelerating.

Here, the gender gap in the labor market emerges as one of the most severe dimensions of the crisis. Young women represent a large proportion of the NEET index category; Due to unemployment, but also due to unpaid care burdens, cultural restrictions, and weak policies for reconciling work and family life.

These patterns show that youth unemployment is not socially neutral; Because it shows a profound imbalance in the distribution of opportunities and resources within societies. In light of this intertwining between unemployment and social fragility, it becomes clear to us that simply measuring the extent of the problem is not enough. Therefore, we must move from diagnosis to redirecting public policies themselves.

From measuring unemployment to reorienting policies

The impact of adopting the NEET indicator on improving the accuracy of measurement extends to reformulating public policies themselves, and reducing these rates can be achieved through two complementary paths:

The first one– Expanding job opportunities

The last one– Promoting enrollment in education and training

In contrast to traditional unemployment, which may sometimes decrease as a result of young people leaving the labor market, the decline in NEET rates shows – in one way or another – a real improvement in opportunities for economic and social integration.

This understanding has prompted a number of countries to adopt comprehensive approaches to youth employment policies, which are policies that combine education, skills building, social protection, and support for the most vulnerable groups.

So, this growing debate aboutunemploymentand the NEET index reveals that the real challenge is related to the ability of economic systems and social processes to effectively integrate young people into the paths of education, work and production.

From this standpoint, developing measurement tools becomes an essential step for a deeper understanding of the unemployment crisis, and for designing policies that respond to the complex reality experienced by millions of young people around the world, instead of being satisfied with partial indicators that do not reflect the scale of the challenge.

In view of its strategy based on targeting all segments of society,The Earth Guards Foundationsees that addressing the unemployment crisis among youth represents a pivotal entry point to achieving the goals of sustainable development in their social and economic dimensions, and this is through linking quality education, decent job opportunities, and social protection.