One fifth of jobless young people are ‘over educated’

The numbers of young people out of work is escalating dramatically and the country’s highly educated generation is being seen as a problem.

Close to one in five are considered to be over-educated, the third highest after Britain and Estonia, reflecting people choosing to stay studying rather than searching for jobs that are not there.

A study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) paints a grim picture of much of the world for the next generation and shows that in the EU, the bailed-out countries are suffering the worst.

They warn that this generation is one at risk and say the weakening of the global recovery this year has further aggravated the jobs crisis with the number of desperate young jobseekers growing.

Young people are permanently affected by this kind of unemployment and studies show that they lose trust in the socio-economic and political systems, the ILO said.

In Ireland, close to a third of those aged 15-24 that are not in education do not have a job, the fifth highest in the EU, and despite wholesale emigration. In Greece and Spain the figure has risen to more than half.

One in five are not in education, a job, or training — the third highest in the EU — while two thirds have been unable to find a job for a critical six months or more.

Almost half have part-time jobs — among the highest in the EU but the numbers in temporary employment at a third is much lower than in most other countries.

In fact, those with the lowest number of unemployment youth such as Germany and the Netherlands are mostly in temporary posts.