Coronavirus: one in six young people is unemployed because of the pandemic, according to the ILO

Three young Chinese wait for a bus to look for work after losing their jobs due to the coronavirus crisis in Beijing on May 13, 2020. REUTERS / Tingshu Wang

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Young people may not be the most at risk from Covid-19, but it is they who are paying the brunt of the economic crisis. According to a study by the International Labor Organization (ILO) released on Wednesday, May 27, one in six people under the age of 29 has stopped working because of the crisis. The UN agency fears the emergence of a "generation confinement" which would remain in great difficulty for a decade.

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With our correspondent in Geneva, Jérémie Lanche

Young people were already the category of the population most affected by unemployment before the pandemic, with 13.6% unemployment rate in the World, even if this figure can vary from the simple to double according to the countries. But after Covid-19, it should be worse  : first, the crisis is disrupting their studies, and it also threatens their chances of getting a job or changing it, according to the ILO study .

At the same time as we emerge from the pandemic, young people will be left by the wayside and in large proportions , worries ILO boss Guy Ryder. The danger is that this shock to youth employment will last for a decade or more. The consequences will be felt throughout their professional lives : they will be marked for life by the effects of the pandemic . "

Informal employment

Of course, there is distance education and teleworking , but few developing countries are able to offer it. Three-quarters of young people are also in informal employment , a figure that reaches 90% in Africa.

Hence the importance, the ILO recalls, for countries to massively test and isolate the carriers of the virus, to minimize containment measures and the impact on the socio-economic life of the most vulnerable.

Contact case tracing helps countries take fewer restrictive measures and helps maintain public confidence in engaging in economic activities.

According to the latest ILO report on the impact of # COVID19

👉https: //t.co/XwLKYVfjyq pic.twitter.com/M7eTvcGkUE

  International Labor Organization (@OITinfo) May 27, 2020

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  • UN
  • Employment and Work
  • Coronavirus
  • Youth

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