Greater focus needed on youth unemployment

The shock closure of one of County Meath's most iconic stores, McElhinney Fashions of Athboy, brings home in a very real way just how difficult the economic climate remains for local businesspeople, despite the upbeat forecasts this week from business organisation IBEC which has said that the recession tide is turning and Ireland looks like it heading back on a path to economic growth. Tell that to the dozen or so people who have just lost their jobs in Athboy. Having survived a world war, the lean years of the 1950s and the acute recession of the 1980s, the store which truly put Athboy on the map may not have managed to survive this particular downturn despite having legions of loyal customers who would think nothing of travelling several hundred miles to Meath to be outfitted for a wedding or other special occasion. Its loss to Athboy will be incalculable in terms of lost revenue but also in symbolic value. For all the attention commanded by saving the banks and the establishment of Nama, the greatest scourge of this recession, unemployment, still seems to get scant attention from the Government as if it is simply an inevitable consequence of any downturn and must be accepted. Such a defeatist attitude will do nothing to get this country back on track and must not be allowed to take root. Getting back to work and preparing people for the opportunities the upturn will bring needs to be the number one priority now. The influential OECD organisation has warned that youth unemployment - that is, joblessness among those under 25 - will be worst in Spain and in Ireland. It adds, rather gloomily, that unemployment will 'scar' a generation if governments fail to tackle this major problem. Short-term prospects for youth unemployment in OECD countries remain unfavourable - and with recovery not really expected to take hold until 2011 at the earliest, job creation is expected to lag significantly behind any modest upturn in fortunes. The OECD economists predict that the rate of joblessness among the under-25s will stay at a high level over the next two years and many unemployed young people are likely to remain out of work for a prolonged period. Ireland's jobless rate is creeping towards 14 per cent, though it does appear to be levelling off and it is nowhere as bad as the 18 per cent reached in the mid to late 1980s. In Meath, the latest live register figures show 11,538 people 'signing on' in May, a decrease of 18 people on the previous month. The numbers signing on in Navan and Kells increased by 28 and 32, respectively, while Trim saw a decrease of just over two per cent in the numbers claiming benefits last month. The OECD is recommending that governments give serious attention now to tackling this youth unemployment problem by setting up good quality training schemes so that people are at least prepared for the upturn, when it comes. Locally, it was announced in the past week that 200 additional training places were being added to schemes and courses being administered by Meath VEC and Meath Partnership. While welcome, these places are but a drop in the ocean of what's needed in the context of the overall numbers claiming unemployment benefit or assistance. There is huge demand for such places and many more will be needed to equip people for employment opportunities that will present themselves in the future. News like that which emerged from Athboy over the weekend is a sobering reminder that we are far from out of the woods in this economic slump, despite the positive assessments being made every week about our economic prospects and the major infrastructural improvements such as the opening of the new M3 motorway through Meath last Friday which will, in time, bring economic benefits to this county. Training and education remains the key to helping people at this difficult time - not only does it equip an unemployed person with new skills, it also in a very practical way gives them something worthwhile to do with their time. In an economy struggling with the highest rate of unemployment for over two decades, joblessness among young people is certain to be one of the key challenges facing the Government in the coming years. But there is an opportunity for politicians to propose a bolder policy approach. Young people are particularly vulnerable to changing labour market demands and end up disproportionately affected by periods of unemployment. New research shows that the scar of a period of unemployment can impact on health status, job satisfaction and wellbeing, and can lead to reduced wages throughout an individual's lifetime. More importantly, this scar is both more prevalent and deeper as a result of youth unemployment than it is as a result of a spell later in life. That is why this Government needs to attach a higher priority to tackling youth unemployment now before we see another 'lost generation'.