Youth and Informal Economy: Special Focus on Youth Empowerment.

One of the biggest problem in our modern society is the lack of job opportunities for the entire population and specifically for young people. To have an idea of the magnitude of the issue we have just to think that youth are three times as likely as adults to be unemployed.

According to the ILO, the majority of youth employed work in the informal economy (Global Employment Trends for Youth 2017: Paths to a better working future - http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/global-employment-trends/WCMS_598669/lang--en/index.htm). Globally, three out of four employed young women and men are in informal employment, compared to three in five for adults. If we look at developing countries, this ratio is as high as 19 out of 20 for young women and men.

The magnitude of the phenomenon requires specific strategies and policies to tackle the many issues faced by youth working in an informal setting. At international level it is recognized that working in the informal economy implies for youth the lack of decent work conditions as well as less fair remuneration. As example according to the ILO, as much as 39 per cent of young workers in the emerging and developing world – 160.8 million youth – live in moderate or extreme poverty on less than $3.10 a day.

Work informality negatively affects economic growth, the productivity of workers and social welfare (it hinders access to credit and, by reducing tax collection induces lower coverage and quality in the provision of public goods and services).

Although in some countries (e.g. In Latin America) informal work has moderately decreased over the last ten years in a context of greater economic dynamism, the percentage of people working in the informal economy still remains high, suggesting that it is necessary to take actions to reduce it and limit its negative effects.

In general, it is necessary to improve the regulatory framework under which the labor market operates to correct the elements that inhibit formal contracting. It is also necessary to strengthen labor control and raise the productivity of workers, while supporting young people strategies through an integrated approach combining incentive programs for transitioning to the formal economy, basic social protection floor, education, training, skill development, and entrepreneurship.

The question of Youth empowerment will be also threated during the webinars foreseen in the upcoming weeks and available here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/286098813462985731