Mulat Pinoy contributor Kara Santos covered Ka-Jam Kabataan: Jobs and Alternatives to Migration, a job fair at the SMX Convention Center on August 12, 2011.
During the International Youth Day Celebrations, officials said creating jobs for the millions of young women and men entering the labor market every year is a critical component in the path towards development.
Globally, youth unemployment reached 81 million in 2009 and could rise given recent global events.
The youth unemployment rate rose from 1.9 percent to 13.0 percent between 2007 and 2009, an increase of 7.8 million.
Young people are prone to work longer hours under informal, intermittenet and insecure work arrangements characterized by low productivity and earnings and reduced social protection.
Of the total population of 94 million (NSO, 2010), there are around 18.2 million young Filipinos aged 15-24 years old.
1.5 million unemployed youth strive to find employment opportunities after investing int heir skills and education that may not be in demand at home or abroad.
1.5 million unemployed youth strive to find employment opportunities after investing int heir skills and education that may not be in demand at home or abroad.
2.3 million vulnerably employed youth are often unable to invest in their education which forces them into forms of vulnerable employment.
In 2010, some 1.4 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) were deployed abroad while many more Filipinos, including the youth aspire to go abroad.
The youth comprise 35 percent of all overseas Filipino workers.
In 2008, an estimated 152 million young workers were living with their families on less than US1.25 a day, amounting to more than 28 percent of all young workers in the world.