Young people are hit hardest by the corona crisis, according to the new unemployment figures of the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Young people with flexible and temporary contracts are affected the most. Anne Gielen, Professor of Labour Economics and Policy at Erasmus School of Economics, explains what this means for the younger generation who are now entering the labour market.
A gloomy situation
The labour market looks bleak for many young people at the moment. Unemployment rates for people between the age of 15 and 25 have risen by 9.5% since the beginning of the crisis. The number of unemployment benefits has also risen sharply. The number of benefits among young people has risen by 188% compared to February. Many young graduates have moved back in with their parents to reduce their costs of living.
Major concerns
Anne Gielen is worried about the situation among young people. ‘If you compare February's situation with today's, you see that the number of benefits has increased by a factor of 3 among young people. That is an enormous increase for such a short period of time.’
A different path
The question is now how young people, despite the current situation, can increase their chances on the labour market. ‘The number of jobs available is now much more limited. In concrete terms, this means that you have to settle for a job in a different sector or a job that you might find slightly less challenging. In the future, you may have to change jobs a little more often to get back on the path you were initially interested in,' says Anne Gielen.
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The full item from Nieuwsuur, 18 June 2020, can be found here (in Dutch, the item with Anne Gielen starts from 20:28).