Five Characteristics Of Youth Unemployment: A Case Study

Sanderson suggests that even the shocking unemployment statistics are not a clear indication of just how desperate the job market is for young people (Sanderson, Wells, & Wilson, 2015). What is rarely captured in this data is the “higher levels of underemployment amongst those young people in relatively stable employment (including those with higher level qualifications)” (Sanderson, Wells, & Wilson, 2015). Highlighting this mismatch, in 2005, underemployed individuals in their 30’s came together to create a coalition to represent the overeducated Italian citizens surviving on only 1000 euro a month (Nadeau, 2015). While the volume of participants in 2005 was disheartening, the founder, Antonio Incorvaia, recently lamented that in the 9 years

Additionally, a startling outcome of this mismatch is the long-lasting damage mismatches cause. A 2003 study completed in Sweden, emphasized the imperative of young people finding appropriate first job placements for their skill level. O’Reilly cites this study, in the article “Five Characteristics of Youth Unemployment in Europe”, which found that “61% of Swedish 18-29 year olds who were overeducated in 1981 were still so after 10 years” (O' Reilly, Eichhorst, & Gabos, 2015). This indicates that a legacy of underemployment exists once one enters the labor market, and many individuals are unable to break out of this cycle. In an economic environment where college attendance is expected, there is unfortunately no connection between being overeducated and over-skilled (O' Reilly, Eichhorst, & Gabos, 2015). Students may have formal education that over qualify them for particular positions, but employers find they do not possess applicable skills. While there is little argument that mismatches between jobs and skill levels are detrimental, there is little concrete understanding of why these mismatches truly