Jobless Youth: Southern Europe’s Ticking Time Bomb

By Matthew Melchiorre

Forget austerity and bailouts. Southern Europe has an even bigger problem: a glut of unemployed young people. If this trend continues, workforces will regress in productivity and pensions will run out of funding over the next decade. Spain is in the most dire situation, as 46.4 percent of young people are out of work, while Italy is the most fortunate southern country, with 29.1 percent of its young labor force left jobless. But even this is far above the Euro Area average of 20.8 percent.  As I write in the EU Observer, workforces are ageing as young Southern Europeans remain out of work. Spain’s workforce is ageing at the fastest rate, as it had the largest magnitude decrease in the share working young during 2000-2012. Italy has the most aged workforce, as the percent of employment decreased over the same time period in all age groups through 39 — the broadest age decrease among southern countries.  To Read More........