Abstract
THE International Labour Office estimates that of about 25 million unemployed throughout the world, about one fourth, or 6-7 million, are young persons less than twenty-five years of age. In Great Britain the percentage between fourteen and twenty-four years old was 30-2 per cent in 1931, a figure which indicates the significance of the National Jubilee Trust inaugurated by the Prince pf Wales. The corresponding figure for Switzerland in July 1934 was 15 per cent, but for Hungary in 1930 it reached 42 per cent; in Italy in 1932, 41-5 per cent of the unemployed were between fifteen and twenty-five years of age. These figures indicate the quantitative significance of the discussions on unemployment among young persons at the International Labour Conference opening at Geneva on June 4. They do not, however, reveal the demoralising effects of prolonged unemployment, which are much more serious among young than among older persons. Steps already taken by various countries to deal with this position are indicated in a report prepared by the International Labour Office as a basis for the discussions. The report suggests that most of the measures to be taken to ameliorate unemployment among young persons call for pooling of experience rather than for the drafting of a convention. Particular stress is laid upon the raising of the school-leaving age to fifteen years; the creation of an increased number of technical schools; the organisation of vocational training centres in connexion with public employment agencies and the establishment of centres for recreation, physical training, etc.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Unemployment among Young Persons. Nature 135, 838 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135838a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135838a0