Almost six million people between the ages of 15 and 24 are without a job in Spain. The economic situation in this southern European country is still worrying and fragile though some government officials say the economy is improving and gaining moment, affirming that the country has weathered the storm.
It is certainly not the best time to be these days young and in Spain as the number of youth unemployment in this country has soared to a new record of 56.1 pc. It is the highest rate in Europe after Greece wherein youth unemployment has reached staggering heights of nearly 63 pc.
The growing number of young Spaniards looking for a job is worrying that some people started talking lately of a “lost generation” with huge potentials, triggering fears of possible social unrest and turmoil in the coming days.
Despite the government’s efforts to encourage jobs creation offering tax breaks for hiring and upbeat over improvement in spending over the next few quarters to lift the economy from its slump, experts say it still has a long way to go before picking up the pace.
With the end of holiday season, the numbers of unemployment are likely to rise as workers on seasonal contracts go back on the dole. Some surveys show that Spaniards and recent immigrants are leaving the country to look for work elsewhere, with 500,000 leaving in 2012, including some 60,000 Spanish nationals who moved to Latin America and Europe.
To help European countries create jobs for the young generation, European leaders have agreed, during their latest summit held in Brussels, to provide about 8 billion euros to fight youth joblessness in Euro zone region.
The promised funds will support the “Youth Guarantee” plan that aims to provide a job, training or apprenticeship to young people within four months of their leaving school, full-time education or becoming unemployed.
The global economic financial storm that hit European economy has resulted in massive layoffs across southern, central and eastern Europe, with young people the hardest hit.
Latest statistics show that over 26.6 million men and women in the euro area were unemployed in July 2013. During the same period, 3.5 million young person (-25) were without jobs. The lowest rates of youth unemployment were scored in Germany (7.7 pc), Austria (9.2 pc) and Malta (10.6 pc) while the highest were in Greece (62.9 pc) and Spain (56.1 pc)
These are astonishing figures which show that some countries have managed to provide jobs for the young people while others are still struggling and in urgent need of EU support.
