Youth and COVID-19
“Youth are critical and part of the active plan to limit the virus’s spread and its impact on public health, society, and the economy at large. Already, the global COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe economic and labour market shocks. With an estimated rise between 5.3 and 24.7 million in the number of those unemployed globally, the impact on youth employment is likely to be severe given that youth (15-24) are already 3 times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Furthermore, COVID-19-related shocks to the labour market are likely to impact the quality of jobs for young people, be it in the form of zero-hour contracts, informal employment, etc. Such forms of employment are markedly more common among youth as 77 percent of employed young people hold informal jobs while 126 million are extreme and moderate working poor worldwide. Read more