Youth unemployment: A crisis for European Governments and society?

One of the most enduring themes since we started this blog has been youth (un)employment and how this must be prioritised and tackled, not only at a national level but by the EU. Very often youth unemployment has been linked with a range of (predicted) societal disasters.

This week sees another example. In this piece in The Guardian, European leaders are reported as warning that youth unemployment – which is more than 50% in some countries – could lead to ‘a continent-wide catastrophe and widespread social unrest aimed at member state governments’.

Whilst not suggesting that high numbers of young people being without work isn’t a problem, it’s interesting that unemployment in other age groups is rarely linked with suggestions of hatred and anger towards political leaders and with warnings of civil unrest.