Preliminary communication
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND HARMONIZATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM TO THE LABOUR MARKET NEEDS
Alka Obadić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8915-8853
; Ekonomski fakultet – Zagreb Katedra za makroekonomiju i gospodarski razvoj
Abstract
Croatia has been facing high youth unemployment (unemployment rate around 43% in 2015) and the growing share of discouraged youth for years. Youth unemployment in the EU, especially in Croatia, brings concern because it is almost three times higher than the overall unemployment rate and far higher than the EU, which is approximately 20%. The paper analyses inactivity of young people through the so-called NEET group, whose share is alarming in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia and Spain. Most of these young people does not have a lower secondary school degree and leaves the educational system and training early. The transition from school to the labour market is not easy, and the average transition period until the first significant work in the EU takes about 6.5 months. Given the simultaneous participation of youth in the process of education and the labour market, five groups of countries differ. The mismatch of the labour market and the education system is particularly evident in Croatia, and the rise of unemployed young people with the highest level of education causes a growing concern.
Keywords
labour market; youth unemployment; NEET group; education system
Hrčak ID:
183552
URI
Publication date:
29.6.2017.
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