High levels of poverty and unemployment are pervasive barriers to Nigerian emerging adults entering the job market. The current study employed the Psychology of Working Theory to explore career ...engagement, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction predictors in a nation experiencing the intersections of high poverty and high unemployment rate. We tested a model predicting these outcomes from economic constraints and marginalization mediated by work volition, career adaptability, and perceptions of future decent work. We administered online surveys to 310 undergraduates in Nigeria. Career adaptability and work volition predicted the perception of future access to decent work. Also, those who reported higher chances of securing decent work after graduation reported greater academic and life satisfaction and career engagement. While economic constraints predicted career adaptability in this model, marginalization did not predict career adaptability. In contrast with previous studies, economic constraints, and marginalization were not predictive of work volition or future decent work perception. We also found a positive relationship between economic challenges and career adaptability against the propositions of the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT). The implications of our findings were discussed.
The aim of the present study was to examine macro-determinants of the Not Engaged in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) rate with the country as the unit of analysis. Data from 40 countries ...were extracted from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) database. Linear mixed models were used to examine associations between the NEET rate and gross domestic product (GDP), population density, life expectancy, social spending, homicide rate, part-time employment, poverty, social inequality (GINI index), and education spending. As part of a sensitivity analysis, the analysis was repeated using open data from the World Bank Group. GDP and social spending were uniquely associated with the NEET rate after controlling for the effects of other factors. Social inequality, poverty, and education spending showed borderline significant associations with the NEET rate. The findings of the present ecological study showed associations between environmentally unfavourable conditions or harshness and the NEET rate at the country level and may inform appropriate policy measures to contain and promote a decrease in the NEET rate.
•The effects of a youth employment support program in South Korea are investigated.•The effectiveness of the program was examined using the DID method.•The program was effective in reducing the risk ...of NEET in South Korea.•The study’s findings suggest the need to expand youth employment support programs.
The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the Vision Plan Program, a youth employment support program in South Korea. In this study, we used the survey data collected on program participants and non-participants in 11 communities over a three-year period (2016 to 2018). We used the difference-in-difference method to examine the effectiveness of the program while controlling for both observed and unobserved characteristics of the treatment and comparison groups. We focused on the two primary outcomes of the program: (1) intention to find a job and (2) probability of being not in employment, education, or training (NEET). The analysis results show that the intention of the program participants to find a job increased to 8.3% compared to that of non-participants during the three-year program period. We also found the positive effect of the program on reducing the risk of NEET. The probability of being NEET of the program participants decreased to 6.6% more compared to non-participants during the three-year period. We provide discussion of the possible policy implications and limitations of this study.
Purpose This study examined the influence of social media use on graduateness and the employability of exit students in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study used quantitative and ...descriptive research designs to test the proposed hypotheses. An online survey was used to collect the data from a study sample. A sample of 411 respondents was received, with structural equation modelling (SEM) being used to assess the model fit. Findings The study found that the direct effect of social media use on graduateness skills is significant. Secondly, the direct effect of graduateness skills on perceived employability is also significant. The results also showed existence of support for the mediation of graduateness skills on the relationship between social media use and perceived employability. Research limitations/implications The study provides empirical evidence to the proposed model and infers the potential role of social media in addressing issues related to graduateness and the employability of exit students. Practical implications In addressing the challenge of unemployment, the use of social media can potentially aid in matters of skills acquisition. Originality/value The results demonstrate how technology through the use of social media potentially fits within enhancing graduateness and employability skills.
This paper uses empirical evidence to explore the nature of employment transitions for a cohort of marginalised young people in England. The findings presented reveal the importance of past ...experiences, largely determined by prevailing opportunity structures, in shaping the present and reiterate the need to see transition as a historical process. Longitudinal data collected as part of an evaluation of a youth employment programme called Talent Match provides the evidence for the paper. The routes participants took in terms of securing and sustaining employment are examined. The paper develops a typology of different transitional groups to explore these routes based on the movement (or lack of) into and out of employment. The relative importance of different factors in explaining the groupings are assessed, with results underlining how the ongoing change participants were encountering in the present was inextricably linked to their past. In response, this paper suggests a reemphasis on understanding youth as both a stage of 'being' and 'becoming', seeing youth as both a condition in its own right but also part of the life course process, and calls for a more dynamic understanding of youth transitions among policymakers and those designing youth employment programmes.
This study aims to measure and analyze the probability of insertion of young adults in the labor market in Brazil, in the Southeast and in the Northeast. The microdata from the National Continuous ...Household Sample Survey (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílio Pnad-C) of 2019 and the logit multinomial model were used to estimate the probabilities of young adults to be inactive, em-ployed, or unemployed. The results showed that young adults are more likely to be inactive or unemployed are greater, especially women and non-whites. The educational degree provides the individual opportunities in the job market, espe-cially in families with high incomes, since the young adults receive financial sup-port for exclusive dedication to studies. Young adult from the Southeast, in general, have a higher chance of unemployment and inactivity than Northeasterners, as financial and educational support is more present in their homes.
The debate on territorial cohesion and spatial inequality recognises the role and influence different scales have on individuals' opportunities with extended effects especially for young people's ...life chances. In particular, a regional perspective into territorial disparities of socio-economic conditions and welfare in Europe provides a more fine-grained view on the existence of territorially diverging income and labour market conditions for youth that a national level analysis is not able to grasp. This paper focus on regional differences in school to work outcomes of young people using macro-panel data covering the period from 2005 until 2016. We use a plurality of indicators to study to what extent school to work transitions are better studied at regional level and to characterise those transitions in a more comprehensive way. Our findings demonstrate that there are huge differences both in the level and in the dispersion of young people's school to work outcomes across European territories. This tells us that the allegedly assumed national homogeneity of transition systems can definitely not be taken for granted. Moreover, we show that the Great Recession had strong but differentiated impacts at regional level.
Despite numerous policy interventions to improve education and employment outcomes across the European Union in the last decade, youth unemployment rates continue to be elevated in many EU countries. ...As rural rates are among the highest, the rural−urban divide is receiving ever-increasing attention, and the various dimensions of rural youth unemployment are becoming increasingly prevalent in the discourses of education and employment across Europe, not least in Spain, one of the European countries with the most significant degree of rurality. The objective of this paper is to analyse the differences in Youth-based Active Labour Market policies between rural and urban areas in the Spanish region of Catalonia, using a mix of longitudinal data collection and analysis, along with an examination of the relevant policy framework at all levels of government. Our findings reveal key differences between urban and rural opportunities, and shed light on how multilevel governance may play a role in expanding or reducing these gaps.
PurposeThis is Part 1 of the two special issues on the topic, “School to work transition around the world – the effect of the pandemic recession.” The first part focuses on the determinants of the ...school-to-work transition (STWT) and the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the young worker and their response to uncertain labor market conditions. The second issue will explore the country-specific experiences around the globe in tackling the problem of a smooth STWT. The purpose of this introductory article is to elaborate on the transition of young workers in the labor market. Discussion on the status of various indicators of the youth labor market (unemployment, underemployment and not in employment, education and training NEET) is also integrated. The determining factors of school-to-work transition (STWT) and the role of technical and vocational institutions and universities are analyzed. Moreover, the impact of COVID-19 on the labor market is also evaluated. After the pandemic, there was a dreadful change in the job market; this study dives into those diverse factors and carves out the multiple impacts on youth unemployment.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyses relevant literature on STWT, NEET and COVID-19 implications for the labor market, based on the other papers in this special issue. Using the review method, the authors identified similar research articles and reports which helped in strengthening the study’s argument. The primary focus of the study was on the smooth transition of young workers in the labor market and the impact of the pandemic on youth unemployment. Hence, literature supported the authors in giving the justifications from various economies and societies.FindingsThe paper finds that youth worldwide have suffered from the repercussions of COVID-19, especially in their early career (STWT). Skill mismatch, underemployment, job losses, salary cut downs, health issues, vocational education importance, vulnerable employment, etc. were some of the significant impacts the authors identified by analyzing the various reports and papers. Furthermore, this paper also discusses the role of active labor market policies and hiring incentives for promoting youth employment.Social implicationsThe paper finds that the times ahead are challenging ones. There is a dearth of productive job opportunities due to slow economic growth. The unemployment rate among youth and adults is high, and labor markets have become more competitive. The young generation is now left with no choice but to upgrade and improve their skill set or some other expertise. On the one hand, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and universities need to enhance their marketable knowledge and skills, and on the other hand, there is a need for active labor market policies to encourage their participation in the labor markets.Originality/valueThis paper strongly contributes to highlighting the professional and societal hit backs faced due to the aftermath of COVID-19. The study summarizes the specific details of STWT and employment issues faced by youth in various parts of the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significant consequences in many areas and has largely contributed to rising unemployment in almost all countries. The situation is similar in Slovakia, where various ...degrees of shut-down measures have caused an inflow of newly unemployed people in all age groups. This article focuses on unemployed youth as a vulnerable and disadvantaged group of the working population, as starting a career during a pandemic is complicated or even impossible in some industries under these conditions. In this study, the real situation in Slovakia in 2020-2021 is compared with the development of the job market before the pandemic. The main contribution of the study is the quantification of the extent of the pandemic impact on unemployed youth, but also on other age groups; this evaluation can be considered very accurate given the counterfactual approach used. The results of this study can be used in practice to identify the most affected groups of the population and to implement policy measures aimed at mitigating the effects of the pandemic, and then to adjust the intensity and amount of allocated funds that will be needed to be spent to support the placement of young people into the labor market.
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