Why Youth Unemployment Is a Particularly Serious Issue for Many Countries of the World - Essay Example

The problem of unemployment is a major issue in economy in different countries in the world and causes serious problems to the management of people. People who lack employment may lack it because of lack of capability or because of lack of opportunities, which they need to have their lives established in different ways. Youths in different countries in the world experience acute problems because of the experiences of unemployment with many of them lacking opportunities regardless of the fact that they have the capacity to work (Bertola et al, 2013, p87). This issue continues to trouble many countries regardless of the efforts they have put in place to alleviate the problems and establish youths in productive states that ensures they are productive in the economy. One of the countries that have experienced this kind of problem is Brazil in which many youths are jobless regardless of the steps they have taken towards ending the problem (Kaestner et al, 2013, p177). The problem has perpetuated increase in the rate of poverty in the country with those people who have no jobs staying inactive and depending on the other people who are working. This has increased poverty levels because people have not been productive in the economy and have depended on the productivity of a few people in the society (Groom, 2013, p1). The analysis of the problems of youth unemployment in Brazil will give the insight to understanding the issues that are associated with it in the world and enable understanding of the things that governments can do to alleviate it. In the economy, youth unemployment has contributed to future constraints that come from the issues of little earning of the youths who never get jobs in their youthful age. This means that people in the economy have end up producing little amounts of money that may not be able to facilitate capacity building in other people who rely on them. For example, when people get little income in the advanced age, they end up not offering quality education to their dependants who need the support to advance their lives. This means that unemployment becomes a series of complications that lead to low quality chances of building capacity in other people. At the end of everything, the economy will have very many people who cannot exploit their potential fully for the benefit of their country or for their own. This means that the rate of growth of the economy will reduce and will be low for the country whose youth do not participate in productive activities in their country. The problem of the unemployment in the youth do not face people in one generation only but it extends to the following generations that cause them to affect the economy negatively (Wilhelm et al, 2013, p31). Unemployed youth have resulted to violent ways to get the things they need for their economic sustainability in different places. Some youths have involved themselves in different illegal activities that have led to destabilisation of their countries, because in their idleness and unproductiveness in the economy, they engage in activity to acquire forcibly the things that belong to other people. The lack of jobs cause the youth to get involved in different illegal activities, which may risk their lives and those of others in their environment. Those people who do not get formal opportunities get some others in informal sectors, which require them to work for long hours at very low wages, and in hazardous environment where they do fit. This pushes some of them to get involved in illegal activities like robbery, drug trafficking and other forms of crimes that assure them fast and high returns for the effort they put in an activity. This imply that these youths do not only turn to be a risk to the other people but also are a threat to the stability the of systems of the economy that promote development and therefore, become causes of underdevelopment in the country of their residence. This is because in some of their violent activities, they cause tension that consequently causes people to fear to engage in economically viable activities because the environment will not be conducive for production (Prins, 2006, p21). Some researchers have indicated that the youth who do not get employment opportunities are at a very high risk of getting health complications because of frustrations they get in trying to sustain themselves in the economy. This is because the youth who lack opportunities in labour market end up struggling in vain to attain happiness, they live in isolation and may experience mental health complications that cause stress. In escalated cases, unemployed youth end up committing suicide because they are no longer able to contain the demand of life from the economic pressures they have (Prins, 2006, p15). Unemployed youths suffer from deprived manifest function, which come from the privileges of being workers in different environments. These manifest functions may come inform of regular pay, lack of legitimate pay and the lack of engagement in other activities that are structured and lack of an organised life. This means that they are not able to enjoy life privileges, as do other people who have similar capacity but have opportunities in the labour market and are always engaged in their jobs. This causes them to lead lives of intimidation and self-worthlessness because they are always comparing themselves with other people in the society who are getting regular salaries from their services (The Economist, 2013, p1). There are different ways through which people can alleviate the unemployment levels that affect many youth in various countries. Through involvement of different people in constructive activities that lead to acquisition of resources, they get chances to contribute to the economy and therefore, expanding opportunities. The analyses of different things that have happened in Brazil suggest the ways through which youth employment in the world can be addressed gradually and sustainably. Brazil is one of the countries in the world, in which the rate of youth unemployment did not increase even after the global economic crisis of 2009, which increased those rates in very many others. The leaders in the government of Brazil understood the need to tap resources from both the formal and the informal methods through empowering individuals by equipping them with abilities that enhance their potential (Wilhelm et al, 2013, p61). One way through which youth unemployment was managed in Brazil is ensuring the youths can access diverse opportunities in the economy. This was done through elimination of various barriers to accessibility to important resources that contribute to enhancement of economy in the country. This was done through enhancing the quality of education, which institutions in the country offers to the people by ensuring that it imparted the necessary skills in the different individuals (Majumder, 2010, p487). This made sure that everyone who leaves college or any institution of learning is equipped to exploit various opportunities by creating their own methods of doing things. This strategy is applicable in any other countries in the world so that institutions of learning may produce people who are capable of creative engagement of the environment to get resources (Chabanet and Giugni, 2013, p317). In Brazil, the government diversified the opportunities for exploiting resources in the world through enhancing the formal and the informal sectors to provide opportunities to the people. Through such strategies, many people were involved in different activities of economic value, which could generate money to sustain the unemployed youths. The different methods contributed to the growth of the economy and consequently, increase in opportunities that people needed for exploitation of the environment to attain what they needed in life. Other countries can enhance their formal and informal sectors to create opportunities that people need in the economy and this will cause economic development, which will consequently lead to increased opportunities (World Bank, 2011, p1). Another process that ensured that people in Brazil were able to contain the negative effects of youth unemployment is by reducing the illegal activities in the country. This did not only promote individuals’ morality, but also helped to create conducive environment for exploitation of the environment to get the needed resources (Fergusson, 2013, p38). In addition, the strategy ensured reduction of tensions that could cause negative effects on the economy by causing people to fail to exploit their full potential in fear of malicious attacks from criminals. This strategy is applicable to different countries and it can ensure that the privileged individuals exploit their full potential and create more opportunities as they cause economic growth. The problem of youth unemployment has obvious negative impacts on individuals and the economy of the country in which they live. This is because people who lack opportunities struggle to sustain themselves in the economy and in doing so; they may cause serious commotion in it by thwarting the efforts of those who have such opportunities. To respond to this problem sustainably, governments in different countries need to create opportunities that will help youths to participate actively in the economy through constructive engagement. In order to ensure that there are opportunities for everyone in the economy, the government will need to enhance the potentials of different people so that they can participate in the economy. This will mean that the government will need to empower the youth to engage in the activities that will promote their participation in economic ventures whether they are formal or informal. References Bertola, G., Driffill, J., James, H., Sinn, H.-W., Sturm, J.-E., & Valentinyi, A. (2013). Labour market reforms and youth unemployment. Eeag Report on the European Economy, 2013, 73-94. Chabanet, D., & Giugni, M. (2013). Patterns of change in youth unemployment regimes: France and Switzerland compared. International Journal of Social Welfare, Volume 22, Issue 3, 310-318. Fergusson, R. (2013). Risk, responsibilities and rights: Reassessing the 'economic causes of crime' thesis in a recession. Youth Justice, Volume 13, Issue 1, 31-56. Groom, B., (2013). UN warns global youth unemployment will continue to rise. Financial Times 8th May 2013. Retrieved on 12th July 2013. Kaestner, R., Sasso, A. L., Callison, K., & Yarnoff, B. (2013). Youth employment and substance use. Social Science Research, Volume 42, Issue 1, 169-185. Majumder, R. (2010). Intergenerational Mobility in Educational and Occupational Attainment. Margin: the Journal of Applied Economic Research, Volume 4, Issue 4, 463-494. Prins, E. (2006). Relieving Isolation, Avoiding Vices: The Social Purposes of Participation in A Salvadoran Literacy Program. Adult Education Quarterly, Volume 57,Issue 1, 5-25. The Economist, (2013). Youth unemployment: Generation jobless. The Economist. 27th April, 2013. Retrieved on 12th July 2013. Wilhelm, D. F., Salsich, A., Parsons, J., & Larson, K. (2013). Youth, Safety, and Violence: Schools, Communities, and Mental Health. United States of America. World Bank, (2011). Reducing Youth Unemployment through Skills Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Band. Retrieved on 12th July 2013. < http://wbi.worldbank.org/sske/case/reducing-youth-unemployment-through-skills-development-sub-saharan-africa> Read More