By Warren Smith From Barbados Nation News
THE CARIBBEAN has an acute unemployment problem, particularly among the youth. Not only is youth unemployment high relative to global levels, it is also significantly higher than adult unemployment. Data indicate that the average youth unemployment rate for countries in the region with available data was nearly 25 per cent in 2013, compared with the adult rate of only eight per cent.
Gender differences are also significant, with joblessness among female youth exceeding 30 per cent as opposed to 20 per cent for males.
High levels of youth unemployment inhibit economic development, with adverse social consequences, including poverty; risky behaviours and concomitant negative outcomes such as psychological scarring, crime, unplanned pregnancy, and lost future earning capacity.
The young unemployment issue is, therefore, not just an issue for the parents of unemployed youth or the organisations that support young people. It is a critical development concern that requires urgent attention and durable solutions.
The Caribbean Development Bank has a mandate to reduce poverty and foster inclusive sustainable developments.
The bank’s offerings of knowledge products that focus analytical policy and public attention on important development challenges have become an important platform for the bank to deliver on its mandate.
It is in keeping with this knowledge building thrust that the report Youth Are The Future: The Imperative Of Youth Employment For Sustainable Development In The Caribbean has emanated.
This report brings into sharp focus the youth unemployment situation in the Caribbean and what can be done to tackle the issue.
It has been informed by extensive consultations across the Caribbean and offers a rich analysis of the phenomenon in all its economic, social and cultural aspects.
Central to the analysis is an empirical examination of the socio-economic costs of high youth unemployment.
The findings suggest that these costs are non-trivial, thus strengthening the case for resolute policy action.
The report, therefore, makes recommendations for transformative shifts in policies, practices and institutions to promote sustainable employment in general, and for the youth, in particular.
The importance of increasing youth employment and expanding opportunities for them to be more purposive citizens cannot be over-emphasised.
Caribbean governments are seeking new development paradigms, which require the innovation, creativity and energy of young people.
It is our hope that policymakers and other development stakeholders will find value in this report, and that it can stimulate real action that will raise both the employability and employment levels of young people. We must position our youth to play a more significant role in advancing Caribbean development and securing a sustainable future for successive generations.
(The report mentioned was commissioned by the CDB’s economics department and prepared by a team from the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies. The report reviewed data for eight Caribbean countries and found that “only in Trinidad and Tobago did youth unemployment rates fall below the world average, and this was during the period 2006 to 2010; between 1991 and 2012 all other Caribbean countries had a youth unemployment rate above the world average”.
The regional countries with the highest persistent youth unemployment were Guyana and Suriname which, since 2000, have consistently been above 30 per cent, with the rate in Guyana hovering around 40 per cent.
Since 2007, The Bahamas, Barbados and Belize have had “significant” increases in youth unemployment, the report found.)
Dr Warren Smith is Caribbean Development Bank president.
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