Tackling the youth employment crisis: A macroeconomic perspective

This paper is a revised and substantially expanded version of a background note that was prepared for the report on the Youth Employment Crisis: Time for Action that will be presented and deliberated at the 101st session of the International Labour Conference (1 - 14 June 2012). The authors highlight salient empirical regularities. The authors draw on these stark and stylized facts to suggest that recent macroeconomic events, most notably the global financial and economic crisis of 2007 - 2009 and the contentious fiscal austerity programmes that are particularly evident in the EU, have had rather adverse consequences on employment opportunities for young men and women. The authors also provide a long-run and cross-country perspective on the drivers of youth employment. The authors make specific policy recommendations directed towards macroeconomic policy managers.