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In this research, we empirically examine the structural and macroeconomic determinants of unemployment rates in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, distinguished by age and gender. We examine several hypotheses regarding the influence of long-run economic growth, labour market flexibility, and the social contract on unemployment rates. Using panel data for the period 2000–2020 and country and time fixed effects estimation methodology, empirical evidence shows that long-run growth reduces unemployment rates regardless of age and gender (except for female youth unemployment rate). Wage flexibility reduces most unemployment rates. Urbanization reduces total and male unemployment rates, while population density reduces total and female unemployment rates. In contrast to these determinants, linking pay to productivity, increases female, total youth, and male youth unemployment rates. Openness ratio increases total, total youth, male and male youth unemployment rates but not female and female youth unemployment rates. The paper has important policy implications for reducing unemployment rates in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explored the experiences of unemployed graduates at Vleifontein Village Elim in Makhado Local Municipality in Limpopo Province, South Africa. To achieve the mandate of the study, the researcher adopted a unique qualitative research approach, which gathered in-depth data from the participants. This approach, distinct in its focus on understanding the experiences of unemployed graduates, aided in the elevated understanding of the research problem. The study adopted an exploratory qualitative research design to gather or collect data from the participants, and the researcher used semi-structured interviews consisting of open-ended questions administered face-to-face to observe gestures, emotions, feelings, or even how they react to the questions. Furthermore, purposive sampling was used to select the sample that formed part of the interviews. Additionally, the study adopted the Conflict theory by Karl Marx to integrate with the study. Therefore, the findings of the study deduced that most of the participants understood the meaning of unemployment as their current socio-economic state, both from a financial and psychological perspective. Moreover, on the issue of the challenges, the findings deduced that they are not experienced and skilled enough for the jobs they are applying for. In that light, the study emphasizes the need for increased employment opportunities to minimize the negative impacts faced by unemployed graduates, which includes specialized training of graduates to render services that would make it easier for the graduates to find employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In a country that is marred by an excessively high unemployment rate, there is a need for policymakers to prioritise entrepreneurship in South Africa. The study aims to explore the determinants of self-employment among the youth in South Africa and in the process answer the following question: Who are the self-employed youths in South Africa? Design/methodology/approach: Different potential predictors of self-employment empirically used in the literature were used in this study. A probit regression model was used with the binary self-employment variable as the dependent variable and a host of independent variables. A nationally representative survey consisting of youths was used in the analysis. Findings: The findings show that financial literacy increases the odds of being self-employed. Secondly, the odds of being self-employed increase with age as mature people are expected to have gathered enough networks and wisdom over the years. Thirdly, being male decreases the odds of being self-employed. When it comes to education, the only category that statistically increases the odds of being self-employed compared with no schooling is the tertiary level of education. The other educational levels are all statistically insignificant. From a policy perspective, the government should promote self-employment by investing in financial literacy as well as increasing access to tertiary education among disadvantaged groups. Originality/value: The study is one of the first, to the best of the authors' knowledge, to examine the characteristics of the self-employed using a nationally representative survey in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the association between apprenticeship training and self-employment and how gender moderates the association. Design/methodology/approach: Secondary data from the World Bank's Skills Towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) survey on Ghana were analysed using a binary choice (logit regression) model. The STEP survey drew its nationally representative sample from the working-age population (15–64 years) in urban areas. Findings: After controlling for several factors identified in the literature as determinants of self-employment, the results indicate that completing apprenticeship training increases the likelihood of being self-employed. However, women who have completed apprenticeship training are more likely to be self-employed than men. Originality/value: By examining the moderating effect of gender on the association between apprenticeship training and self-employment, this study has offered new evidence that policymakers can use to promote self-employment, especially among women, to reduce the entrepreneurial gap between men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the analysis of socio-economic methods to overcome youth unemployment in Omsk in the 1920s. Archival materials and regional periodicals are used as the main source base. The publication demonstrates the dependence of the nature of youth unemployment on the specifics of regional industry and analyzes the factors influencing employment dynamics. The author comes to the conclusion that limited material resources and the lack of high demand for qualified specialists made it difficult to solve the problem. At the same time, thanks to the increase in the number of adolescents in the vocational education system, it was possible to stabilize the situation with youth employment and improve their financial situation.

While unemployment is a significant issue that has been extensively discussed in economic literature for decades, it is one of the key indicators that governments and firms consider. In fact, reducing unemployment in a country contributes to both increasing social welfare and economic welfare. Fluctuations in unemployment figures during the globalization process have led researchers to prioritize this issue. The objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of globalization on youth unemployment in Türkiye over the period 1988–2021, utilizing the augmented ARDL approach. The KOF Globalization Index, a frequently utilized indicator in the literature, is selected to represent globalization. However, the study is limited by the fact that the most recent data from the KOF index belongs to 2021, and the data on youth unemployment began in 1988. The limited number of studies on the relationship between globalization and youth unemployment in Türkiye constitutes the starting point of this study. The findings of the study indicate that an increase in globalization in the long run decreases youth unemployment in Türkiye. Furthermore, economic growth, inflation, and foreign direct investments also decrease youth unemployment, while an increase in urbanization increases youth unemployment. In addition, if a deviation occurs in the short run, approximately 85% of these deviations disappear in the first period and converge towards the long-run equilibrium.

We compare the relative effectiveness of selected active labour market policies (ALMPs) available to young unemployed people in Poland in 2015 and 2016. We find sizeable negative employment effects of participating in public works programmes, particularly among disadvantaged individuals. The second-least effective ALMP was standard on-the-job training, even though it was the most popular among young unemployed people. We also show that on-the-job training vouchers (where the unemployed find the training provider) were more effective than standard on-the-job training schemes (where the public employment service finds the training provider) for all subgroups of participants. However, we find no support for the greater effectiveness of vouchers in the case of classroom training. Moreover, the most effective alternative for participants in public works programmes and on-the-job training depended on gender. Women would have benefited the most if they had been offered an on-the-job training voucher, while men would have benefited the most if they had participated in classroom training (standard or financed with a voucher). Finally, we find that the offer of public employment services does not match the needs of tertiary-educated women, who constitute a significant part of the young unemployed in Poland.

Graduate unemployment has become a common phenomenon in Africa. Many youth with advanced education levels are not able to find decent jobs. This article examines the effect of human capital investment on youth unemployment using panel data from 44 sub-Saharan countries over the period 1991-2020. The Cross-Sectional augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) modeling approach is carried out to overcome the issue of endogeneity and cross-sectional dependency. Results show that in the long run, an increase in primary and tertiary school enrolments reduces the youth unemployment rate. In contrast, secondary school enrolment is positively associated with youth unemployment, independently of gender considerations. The short-run dynamics reveal that primary and tertiary school enrolments are positively associated with youth unemployment. In addition, the results confirmed Phillip's curve hypothesis between inflation and unemployment and Okun's law between economic growth and unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While unemployment is a significant issue that has been extensively discussed in economic literature for decades, it is one of the key indicators that governments and firms consider. In fact, reducing unemployment in a country contributes to both increasing social welfare and economic welfare. Fluctuations in unemployment figures during the globalization process have led researchers to prioritize this issue. The objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of globalization on youth unemployment in Türkiye over the period 1988–2021, utilizing the augmented ARDL approach. The KOF Globalization Index, a frequently utilized indicator in the literature, is selected to represent globalization. However, the study is limited by the fact that the most recent data from the KOF index belongs to 2021, and the data on youth unemployment began in 1988. The limited number of studies on the relationship between globalization and youth unemployment in Türkiye constitutes the starting point of this study. The findings of the study indicate that an increase in globalization in the long run decreases youth unemployment in Türkiye. Furthermore, economic growth, inflation, and foreign direct investments also decrease youth unemployment, while an increase in urbanization increases youth unemployment. In addition, if a deviation occurs in the short run, approximately 85% of these deviations disappear in the first period and converge towards the long-run equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the causes and impacts of unemployment in South Africa using data from the 2022 General Household Survey conducted by STATS SA. Specifically, it seeks to analyze the demographic and socio-economic factors influencing unemployment rates, explore the implications of unemployment on individuals and society, and identify policy implications for addressing this pressing issue. Unemployment remains a significant challenge in South Africa, with persistent high rates that disproportionately affect certain demographic groups. This study addresses the need for an in-depth analysis of unemployment dynamics, providing valuable insights into its causes, consequences, and potential policy interventions. The study utilizes data from the 2022 General Household Survey conducted by STATS SA, encompassing a total population of approximately 18738 households. The dataset offers comprehensive information on employment status, demographic characteristics, education levels, and household income. Employing the statistical software SPSS, employing a combination of descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and a binary logistic regression model, the research uncovers significant disparities across demographic groups, shedding light on the challenges faced by individuals at the household level and advocating for targeted policy interventions. Gender disparities emerge starkly, with female-headed households constituting 44% of the sample yet reporting lower employment rates (34.7%) compared to male-headed households (59.6%). Regression analysis confirms this trend, highlighting the gender-based hurdles in accessing employment opportunities. Furthermore, concerning trends in youth unemployment are revealed, with nearly 40% of individuals under 35 reported as unemployed. Regression analysis demonstrates a negative association between age and unemployment, emphasizing the need for targeted youth employment initiatives. Additionally, the study underscores the critical role of education in enhancing employment prospects, with higher levels of education associated with lower unemployment rates. Racial disparities in unemployment rates are also elucidated, with the Black/African population group facing the highest unemployment rate at 52.3%, significantly higher than the Asian/Indian (37.8%) and White (40.4%) population groups. Regression analysis confirms these disparities, necessitating targeted efforts to address structural barriers and promote racial equity in the labor market. The study recommends, implementing gender-sensitive employment policies, enhancing youth skills development programs, and promoting equitable access to education and training opportunities for all groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the nuanced relationship between sustainable investments, particularly from entities such as the United States (US), and their impact on unemployment trends in South Africa, contributing to discussions on sustainable development goals (SDGs). Utilizing a quantitative approach with data from sources such as the World Bank and Statistics SA, this study employs statistical and econometric methods to assess the socioeconomic consequences of international sustainability funding. The findings indicate a significant link between US sustainable investments and youth unemployment in South Africa, challenging and reinforcing existing research. It depicts that while foreign investments in green initiatives are crucial, they may inadvertently affect local employment negatively. This study recommends policy adjustments in both US and South African legislation to align foreign investments with SDGs, aiming to mitigate youth unemployment. This study underscores the importance of understanding the implications of international funding conditions on local economies, offering insights for policymakers and scholars to develop strategies that leverage sustainable investments for economic growth and employment opportunities. This study provides a fresh perspective on the dynamics between international investments and local unemployment, offering valuable insights for economic planning and policy formulation in South Africa and across other African nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern welfare agencies are increasingly offering clients digital tools in their service delivery. Since young people are prolific users of digital technology, this trend should be to their advantage. However, the quantitative study presented in this article investigates how citizens under the age of 30 use public digital services, compared to those over 30. The study found that clients were less active than older clients in using a digital plan while receiving support from the government. Accordingly, they may be less able to receive help from public agencies when it is offered digitally. Yet, the choices made by caseworkers in how they prioritized clients for more personal support may have reduced the risk of this disadvantage.

Background: Youth unemployment in South Africa has increased significantly over the past decade. There are, however, stories of success in securing employment. Exploring factors influencing these successes is important because they may inform interventions that have the potential to increase youth employment. Objectives: This study explored the experiences of four black female, South African youth who successfully transitioned from unemployment to employment. Methods: Utilising a qualitative design methodology and the inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, data were gathered from four first-time employed participants regarding their experiences of progressing from unemployment to employment. Results: Four main themes emerged from the analysis that highlighted the psychological impact of looking for employment among South African youth. The themes examined the value participants placed on tertiary education, the loss of identity caused by the negative consequences of job-search rejection, the positive impact of kin support and the influence of the participants’ psychological strengths. The final theme elucidated the participants’ positive identity formation post-employment. Conclusion: The results from this study underscored the value of kin support, the use of specific psychological strengths in securing employment and the timing of identity formation in the school-to-work transition phase for South African youth. Contribution: This study may contribute to the existing body of literature on youth unemployment, understanding the psychological impact of the journey to employment and the factors that contribute to securing employment.

Background: Despite the rise of digital job search tools, many South Africans remain excluded due to connectivity and financial barriers. The digital divide, particularly among youth and low-income groups, limits access to job opportunities, exacerbated by data costs and limited digital skills. Objectives: This study investigates the factors influencing the acceptance and use of a data-free job search application, focusing on challenges related to connectivity, data costs, and digital skills. Method: A qualitative approach is employed, analysing Google Play Store reviews through thematic analysis. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework is applied to explore the influence of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions on user adoption. Results: Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions are key drivers of application usage. Positive user experiences with these factors enhance engagement, while negative perceptions of usability and technical issues limit consistent use. Conclusion: Addressing connectivity and usability issues is essential to improving the acceptance and use of data-free job search applications in South Africa. Enhancing performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions can significantly increase user engagement. Contribution: The study offers practical insights for developers and policymakers to enhance the accessibility and usability of data-free job search tools, promoting more equitable access to job opportunities for disadvantaged groups.

In South Africa, high unemployment rates persist, particularly among the country's youth and rural residents, exacerbating socio-economic challenges such as food insecurity and poverty. Despite government initiatives aimed at promoting entrepreneurship to combat youth joblessness, participation in agriculture remains low due to negative perceptions regarding the field's status and potential earnings. This study examines the socio-economic impact of youth involvement in agriculture, with a focus on job creation and poverty alleviation in the Umzimvubu Local Municipality, Eastern Cape Province. Data was collected from 210 youth using a stratified random sampling method, and analysis was conducted using logit regression and propensity score matching techniques. The results indicate that youth engage in agriculture to enhance employment opportunities and household food security, making significant contributions to farm income and poverty reduction. Recommendations include government interventions such as mentorship programs and skills training to support youth in agricultural enterprises. These findings highlight the pressing need for targeted strategies to address youth poverty and vulnerability in South Africa.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore challenges and opportunities associated with young carers' employment in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: Using a multi-stakeholder approach, this study captures the reflections of stakeholders (n = 8) and young carers (n = 10) about opportunities for, and experiences of, paid employment for young carers. Findings: Despite many organisations internationally increasingly pushing diversity agendas and suggesting a commitment to equal opportunity experiences, this study found that young carers' work opportunities are often disrupted by their caring role. For young carers to be successful in their careers, organisations need to provide further workplace flexibility, and other support is required to attract and retain young carers into organisations and harness their transferrable skills for meaningful careers. Practical implications: The paper highlights important implications for human resource management practitioners given the need to maximise the participation of young carers as workers, with benefits for young carers themselves, employers and society. Originality/value: The research adds to the human resource management and work–family conflict literature in examining young carers through drawing on Conservation of Resources theory to highlight resources invested in caring leads to loss of educational and work experience resources. This leads to loss cycles and spirals, which can potentially continue across a lifetime, further contributing to disadvantage and lack of workplace and societal inclusion for this group of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Polish Journal of Economics / Gospodarka Narodowa is the property of SGH Warsaw School of Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 2023, in an effort to revive the sluggish economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government implemented a variety of stimulus measures, such as interest rate cuts, tax cuts for small and medium-sized enterprises, and the issuance of local government bonds. But recovery has been challenging owing to export controls by the United States, lackluster domestic demand, high youth unemployment, and a real estate bubble. Externally, to respond to stronger cooperation between the United States and its allies in Western Europe and Asia, China actively pursued diplomatic activities with its traditional allies, such as Russia, and developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the repercussions of idle time on youthful population through critically analyzing the status quo of youth unemployment in South Africa. Youth unemployment has become a major source of concern in South Africa and around the world. The unemployment challenge has thus left many young people in limbo, a state of misery, idleness, and social death. It subsequently exposed many young South African to socially immoral activities such as, inter alia, drug and alcohol use, deceit and theft. Idle time, the period people wastefully spend doing nothing productive, vehemently led many young people to perish, and ostensibly resulted into the economic stagnation in South Africa. This paper fastened its philosophical argument on the biblical aphorism that “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper adopted a qualitative desktop-based research methodology as well as document analysis as data analysis tool. Findings: The results established that the persistent challenge of youth unemployment has pushed South Africa’s economic development into a downward spiral toward underdevelopment and vulnerability. Therefore, the country lacks a holistic approach to address idleness and unemployment, to unlock the potential of its youthful population, stimulate economic growth and development. Implications/Originality/Value: It is therefore concluded that youth unemployment has become a serious dilemma in South Africa, that it subjected majority of young people to idleness and encourages them to engage in immoral activities such as crime, making them more susceptible to the onset of drug and alcohol use. The paper recommended that the government should adopt effective mechanisms to engage unemployed youth into the economic mainstream, to enhance development and reduce idle time tragedies.

This paper examines the relationship between young individuals that are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEETs) and regional resilience across the Mediterranean European Union South. It attempts a significant contribution to the literature since academic readings on youth studies have partly overlooked potential interlinkages with regional resilience, while regional studies have neglected to assess the resilience of the young cohorts of the labour force. The paper builds on a geographical political economy approach and employs a mixed-research method, calculating regional resistance and recovery indices and drawing upon informed expert interviews. It scrutinises labour market resilience in terms of youth employment and NEETs against the 2007/08 crisis and documents which regions have been (less) resistant to youth unemployment and inactivity. Thereupon, it locates four factors of low resilience in regional youth labour markets, namely structural deficiencies, path-dependence, labour market segmentation and informal practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth unemployment has been an issue in European countries for many years. However, the attention paid to it by policymakers has varied over time, and there are high cross-country variations in both the size of the phenomenon, representations of it, and policy interventions. This study adds an intra-country component to the country-comparative dimension and assesses the factors affecting how young adults perceive youth unemployment. From a theoretical perspective, we postulate that the perception of youth unemployment as an issue depends on both sociotropic and egocentric evaluations. To address these research questions, we analyse data from the Cultural Pathways to Economic Self-Sufficiency (CUPESSE) dataset, which comprises responses from more than 20,000 young adults (aged 18-35) from 11 European countries (nine European Union member states together with Switzerland and Turkey). The empirical analysis is based on multilevel modelling and reveals that the problem perception varies both across countries and within them following the hypothesised pattern. The findings show that two factors are particularly important for explaining young people's perception of youth unemployment as a problem: first, whether they experienced their parents being unemployed when growing up, and second, whether their friends are unemployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people neither in employment, education, or training (NEETs) are particularly vulnerable to social and economic exclusion. Indeed, recognition of this fact was a key motivating factor underlying the development of the Youth Guarantee. This article uses data from the EU Labour Force Survey and EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions to examine how the characteristics of the NEET population and their associated vulnerability to social exclusion vary across different sub-groups of young NEETs and how this has changed in Italy, Portugal, and Spain since 2015. The analysis focuses on the determinants of NEET status, youth vulnerability to poverty and social exclusion, and also examines the propensity of young NEETs to engage with public employment services in order to assess the extent to which young people most at risk of social exclusion are within the purview of the Youth Guarantee's activities. The article highlights how the composition and vulnerability of young NEETs have altered between 2015 and 2021. While the risks of poverty and social exclusion of long-term unemployed NEETs have remained unchanged since 2015, the vulnerability of the most at-risk subgroup of young people, those who are NEET due to family responsibilities, has become more pronounced. Moreover, the engagement with public employment services of the most at-risk NEET sub-groups has remained persistently low. The findings suggest that greater efforts are needed to remove the obstacles to labour market re-integration faced by the most vulnerable groups within the purview of the programme and, above all, young women with family responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This thematic issue discusses the design, implementation, and impact of youth-oriented active labour market policies in Europe, with a particular emphasis on its peripheries. The need to address territorialised, youth-oriented active labour market policies is pressing for several reasons. For one, the whole socioeconomic paradigm is undergoing fundamental changes due to the dual transition (digital and green) that is expected to have an impact on the rural/urban divide. Moreover, at the subnational level, youth unemployment in certain regions is a more pressing problem than suggested by existing studies, which have mostly focused on the national level. This implies that closer inspection of the subnational level, in general, and the peripheral regions, in particular, will reveal more marked cross-national differences. This thematic issue offers a point of departure for the suggested territorialised approach to the study of how active labour market policies for young people are formulated and implemented, and which effects they have on their target groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses a subset of eight youth employability programmes (YEPs) operating across South Africa using a panel survey of participants. It assesses the features of these YEPs and their links to subsequent employment while controlling for individual characteristics. Each YEP delivered technical and soft skills training, alongside other programme features offered in different combinations. Additionally, a financial capability intervention comprising financial literacy and access to a savings product was randomised to half of the training sites. Job matching, soft skills training, and financial capability are all strongly associated with better employment odds. The strength of these associations depends on how different training components are combined, and on graduates' education level and area of residence. The findings have implications for the design of active labour market policies in developing countries with large youth unemployment and fast-changing labour markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, youth unemployment has been the focus of attention of international and community bodies in the area of social rights. Specifically, there is a need to promote attitudes and skills to access employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. The measures implemented have not been effective. In 2023, Spain had the highest youth unemployment rate in the European Union (29.6%). An improvement in the level and quality of education and training of young people would reduce their level of unemployment. Entrepreneurship education is, therefore, a necessary value in the society of the 21st century since it is a tool for the development and growth of the younger population. In the entrepreneurship education model proposed in this study for adolescents, we focus on the capacities of self-efficacy and personal initiative as precursors of entrepreneurial behavior. This paper analyzes the differences between the mean values of the variables before and after the implementation of the educational program and the influence or correlation between the variables. The main results are threefold: (i) the educational program implemented improves the mean values of the two variables analyzed; (ii) self-efficacy exerts a positive or direct influence on personal initiative, and (iii) the educational program improves or reinforces the positive influence of self-efficacy on personal initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the individual factors affecting regional youth unemployment in Turkey’s TRB1 Region at the micro level. A face-to-face survey technique was used as the data collection method. Surveys prepared for youth unemployment were applied to 400 young people aged 15-24 in the TRB1 Region using a random sampling method. The data obtained from the surveys were analyzed using logistic regression. Independent variables were selected based on the results of the independent variable selection hypothesis. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that the probability of unemployment for young people who are high school, university, and graduate school graduates is lower than that of young people who are middle school graduates. The probability of unemployment for young people whose fathers are elementary, middle school, high school, and university graduates is lower than that of young people whose fathers are illiterate. In general, young people who trust people are less likely to be unemployed than young people who do not trust people. Also, the youth’s family per capita income was found to have a positive effect on reducing their unemployment probability. No significant relationship was found between gender, health status, and youth unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern welfare agencies are increasingly offering clients digital tools in their service delivery. Since young people are prolific users of digital technology, this trend should be to their advantage. However, the quantitative study presented in this article investigates how citizens under the age of 30 use public digital services, compared to those over 30. The study found that clients were less active than older clients in using a digital plan while receiving support from the government. Accordingly, they may be less able to receive help from public agencies when it is offered digitally. Yet, the choices made by caseworkers in how they prioritized clients for more personal support may have reduced the risk of this disadvantage [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is a global concern about the effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET) programmes in developing job-related skills and competencies for real-world environments for disadvantaged and unemployed youths. Experiential learning (EL) is a major component of VET programmes. This article aims to examine the effects of facilitating VET through EL theory to promote youths' skills acquisition. The study looks at the effects of material resources on the use of experiential learning theory (ELT), the types of EL and the contribution of ELT to VET programmes. Design/methodology/approach: The research design mainly entails a qualitative research design and research method to allow the researcher to view the reality as is experienced from the inside out by the trainees and training centre managers on important data for a thorough understanding. The study participants were 512 young trainees who completed different training courses from the VET programmes and 24 centre managers in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Findings: The findings reveal that the use of ELT in VET programmes helped the trainees to gain real-world skills, hence contributing to their empowerment in terms of work experience and competence for their future employment. Based on the findings, the study concludes that ELT is an effective instrument to promote VET programmes for disadvantaged and unemployed youths. Practical implications: The practical and social implications of the findings are that, while disadvantaged youths cannot access and afford higher education, public and private sectors can remedy their situation by providing non-school-based technical and vocational training to help such youths enter the labour market. The findings will motivate the providers of skills development for unemployed youths to use ELT in designing course curricula, planning resources and directing teaching-learning approaches to help trainees to acquire skills and competencies to perform tasks close to real-work situations. Social implications: The socio-economic implication of the article is that skills development plays an important role in poverty reduction. Investing in the skills development of citizens is vital to raise the incomes of poor groups and to reduce poverty (ILO, 2018). Although the causes of unemployment have also to do with economic factors in a country, skills development is an essential ingredient in developing capacities for labour market entry and increased income generation of a vulnerable group of people. Originality/value: The article is significant because the study provides new insights into the use of ELT in VET programmes to improve their effectiveness in developing job-related skills and competencies for real-world environments for disadvantaged and unemployed youths. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by establishing a solid base for the evidence-informed practice of the effects of facilitating the VET programme through ELT to promote skills acquisition for the employment of unemployed and disadvantaged youths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open government data (OGD) and information and communication technologies (ICT) are potential enablers in meeting information needs related to finding employment opportunities, but there is little evidence‐based theorization to guide this enablement and avoid the barriers that hinder its use. The potential economic contribution of OGD has been researched in depth, but the potential of OGD for human development, specifically in developing countries, has not been theorized substantially. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate "how the role of ICT and OGD in meeting the employment‐related information needs of unemployed South African youth can be understood better by the application of the Choice Framework". The Choice Framework is Kleine's analytical tool for investigating ICTs for development toward a contextualized understanding of the relationships among the framework's elements, namely structure, agency, the dimension of choice and development outcomes. The research design was a single, exploratory case study; the data was collected in Alexandra Township of the Gauteng Province in South Africa using semi‐structured interviews. Data was collected from 34 participants (between the ages of 18 and 35) who were looking for employment. The data was analyzed thematically and then unpacked in terms of the constructors of the Choice Framework. The findings show that most participants had access to ICT but limited awareness of OGD, and several challenges in using OGD for finding employment‐related information were identified. The findings provide a theory‐based contextual understanding of the research space, including the challenges and recommendations for overcoming said challenges of finding information on employment opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of HAK İŞ International Journal of Labor & Society is the property of HAK-IS International Joumal of Labour & Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores the importance of vocational and entrepreneurial skills acquisition for Nigerian youths in addressing poverty and unemployment. It discusses the factors contributing to these issues, such as the lack of practical skills and job opportunities. The study suggests that promoting vocational and entrepreneurship education, incorporating job training programs, and providing funding can help alleviate poverty and create employment opportunities. It also highlights the need for a shift in the educational system towards practical skills development. The article concludes with recommendations for collective efforts in supporting vocational and entrepreneurship education. [Extracted from the article]

This paper evaluates a 90‐day hiring subsidy designed for young jobseekers aged below 25, introduced in Hungary in 2015 as part of the Youth Guarantee programme. The subsidy covers the total wage cost with no obligation to retain the new hire when the subsidy expires. The analysis is based on linked administrative data on registered unemployment, cognitive skills measured around age 15, healthcare, and social security records. The causal impact of the subsidy on subsequent employment is identified in comparison to participants of a uniquely large public works programme, using propensity score matching with exceptionally rich controls. The estimates indicate significant positive effects: participants spent 14–20 days more in employment within 6 months after the programme ended in the whole sample. The impact is weaker on the 12‐month horizon. We find that the subsidy works well as a screening device: the programme has the highest impact on youths who have very low levels of schooling (8 years of primary school or less), but scored high on cognitive skills tests. One potential explanation is that employers tend to retain those with better cognitive skills, irrespective of their formal qualifications. We also find some indication that the subsidy is (mis)used by some employers to hire short term, seasonal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the age group described as young shows the country structure of the country, the concept of young generally refers to the groups between the ages of 15-24 in the literature. Young people may move away from the labor market or have to work outside of their fields of education due to reasons such as lack of experience, technical knowledge, and merit issues. Young people's alienation from the workforce or their inability to find a job that suits their characteristics negatively affects them economically and psychologically and causes them to be isolated from society. With the increase in the number of university graduates in Türkiye in recent years, problems such as the problem of qualification incompatibility among young people studying in some departments and the prolongation of the period of finding a job may be experienced. It can be said that the young people studying in the departments of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, especially in the departments that have more qualification mismatches and longer employment times, are more affected by the unemployment phenomenon compared to the departments in the universities announced by the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office. For this reason, within the scope of the study, the perspective of students (between 18-24 years old) studying in the departments of business, economics, finance, public administration, political science and international relations, labor economics and industrial relations, econometrics affiliated to the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Manisa Celal Bayar University perspective on unemployment and solution proposals about youth unemployment are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is lagging in infrastructural development including Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As there are rising employment opportunities in the ICT-intensive industries globally including Africa, enhanced knowledge and use of ICT may tend to reduce youth unemployment in Africa. Thus, this study investigates the effect of ICT on youth unemployment in Africa using a sample of 41 African countries between 2003 and 2018. The study employs a dynamic Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) approach and constructs a composite ICT index to combine key indicators of ICT, using the principal component approach. We also account for the interactive role of education in the ICT-youth unemployment nexus. Relying on the Phillip curve theoretical model, the effect of inflation, physical capital accumulation, level of corruption, and economic growth are also examined. The results show that youth unemployment in Africa can be reduced by higher ICT deployment and usage, which confirms our hypothesis in this study. There is also evidence that education enhances the potential of ICT usage to reduce youth unemployment. Furthermore, we find that the Phillip curve hypothesis holds, as the inflation rate has a negative effect on youth unemployment. More so, there is evidence that youth unemployment in Africa can be reduced by higher physical capital accumulation, lower level of corruption, and higher economic growth. With falling economic growth and looming economic recession in many African countries, governments would need to revise educational curricula to include ICT-based training to reduce the level of youth unemployment in the medium to long term period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth unemployment is a very important socioeconomic problem in Nigeria, which has gone bad in recent years. Therefore, using the ordinary least square estimation technique (OLS), this research examines the impact of insecurity on youth unemployment in Nigeria from 1990 to 2020. The study focuses on the relationship between the dependent variable, unemployment (Unemp), and two independent variables, the National Terrorism Index (Ntix) and Crime Rate (Crat). The results reveal that Ntix has a positive and statistically significant effect on Unemp. Specifically, a unit increase in Ntix leads to a 0.000827 rise in unemployment. Additionally, Nigerian Crat demonstrates a significant and positive influence on Unemp, with an increase in Crat resulting in a 0.005653 increase in unemployment. Given that heightened insecurity directly contributes to unemployment, the study proposes several policy recommendations. Firstly, the government should consider reducing interest rates in commercial banks to enhance the availability of loans for small business owners, enabling them to hire more employees. Furthermore, addressing corruption in both public and private sectors, combating kidnappings, and establishing additional skill acquisition centers are crucial measures to tackle the issue of insecurity and promote employment opportunities.

The study presents the results of a study of the regional peculiarities of the state policy in the field of employment. The monitoring of the main indicators of the Moscow labor market, the structure of the unemployed by age groups and the structure of the employed by the level of education in Moscow was carried out. It is concluded that there is a major problem in the labor market in the city of Moscow, manifested in a high level of unemployment among young people aged 20 to 39 years with higher and secondary specialized education. In order to increase employment among young people, it is proposed to organize joint events by the management of secondary schools and regional employment services to address issues of vocational guidance of schoolchildren, increase awareness of university students about the availability of specialized vacancies, train graduates in self-presentation skills that promote employment and strengthen employers’ awareness of the possibility of obtaining benefits when graduates are employed.