Youth unemployment in Greece might have fallen by over 10 percentage points between 2013-2016, but remains the highest among Eurozone member-states, according to Eurostat. The data showed that the youth unemployment rate stood at 46.7% in December 2016, with Greece, Slovakia and Spain recording the largest drop in youth unemployment as a study posted on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) website revealed. The ECB study points out that despite the notable fall, unemployment rates for those between the ages of 14-25 in Greece, Italy and Spain were particularly high. The December rate in Greece is double the country’s general unemployment rate, which stand at 23.5%. The youth rate was down by 3.5% to 21% in the Eurozone, which was 2.2% higher than the overall rate. Italy and Luxembourg had the most disproportionate rate between general and youth unemployment, as youth unemployment was triple that of the overall figure. The study highlights some measures that could curtail the figure, which include:
1. Improving education quality and the link between the labour market and education.
2. Ensuring a smooth and responsible system to determine wages, including one that defines basic wages.
3. Reinforcing the role of public services for job search and the generation of active policies in the job market.
4. Increasing flexibility in the labour market and the working hours to facilitate work and studies.