Economic Opportunity
Today, youth unemployment is a complex landscape of incremental progress and backsliding due to social, economic and environmental shocks.
This includes slowed economic growth, political uncertainty, and the lasting effects of the pandemic on young people’s development. Despite these challenges, youth unemployment is at its lowest figure since 2000 with an estimated sixty-five million young people worldwide currently out of work (WEF 2025). In high-income countries, like the United States and Europe, four out of five people aged 25-29 have a job. Nevertheless, the quality of jobs available remains a significant issue for young people, with four in five in temporary or informal positions, lacking job security, adequate pay and legal protections.
Globally, 20% of young people are not in employment, education, or training (NEETs or “Opportunity Youth” in the United States) with these numbers on the rise since 2023. Today, there are 85.8 million (13.1%) young men, and 173.3 million (28.2%) young women in this category, an increase by 1 million and 1.8 million respectively since last year. In low-income countries, just one in five young people are employed, with significant skills gaps - nearly 66% of youth hold qualifications that do not match their jobs. According to the ILO, while global employment grew in line with the labor force in 2024, youth unemployment remained high at 12.6%. More troublingly, informal work and working poverty returned to pre-pandemic levels, and low-income countries faced enormous challenges creating decent jobs (ILO 2025).
Behind these numbers are persistent, systemic barriers to access, inclusion, and opportunity faced by many young people: gender gaps (e.g., fewer women in the workforce and a rise in the number of young men who are disengaged), structural barriers (e.g., legal, childcare, transportation), and exclusion (e.g., stigma, discrimination, a lack of accessibility services) continue to hinder young peoples’ prospects and, in turn, economic growth for countries around the world.
The overall lack of economic opportunity remains a top concern for young people worldwide. A 2024 WEF Global Shapers Impact Report highlights the frustration and anxiety felt by many young people whose economic uncertainty makes envisioning the future and achieving milestones, like starting a family, investing in a home, or planning long term, seem out of reach. In aging societies, young people highlighted additional pressures like underfunded social security systems, pension shortfalls, and generational wealth gaps as economic and social issues that leave them sidelined.
Inclusive economic opportunity requires governments at every level, private industry, and diverse local and global (including youth-led) organizations in the United States and around the world to work together to create more equitable pathways to youth employment. This also means addressing barriers to young peoples’ meaningful participation and leadership in finding solutions, and shaping the policies and programs that impacts their lives.
Key Issues & Themes
Today’s challenges for youth employment are made more complex by systemic-barriers and exclusion, rapidly changing technology and industries, widening skills gaps, social, environmental, and economic shocks, and persistent economic instability. At a high-level, some (but not all) areas of effort include:
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The unemployment rate for young people continues to be higher than for the overall workforce. Examples of interventions aimed at increasing labor market participation include: expanded entry-level hiring: apprenticeships, work-based learning and training; employee matching programs; closing the skills gap; expanding vocational and technical education and training; micro-credentialing; employment programs and upskilling for those excluded from the formal labor market, such as young jobseekers, poor households, and women.
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Disparities exist for young people across different income levels, regions, and groups, with the most marginalized (e.g., Opportunity Youth/NEETs, women, Indigenous youth, LGBTQI+ youth, youth with disabilities), facing higher barriers to opportunity and decent jobs, stigma and discrimination in the workplace.
Examples of interventions aimed at promoting inclusion and reducing barriers to economic participation include regulatory reforms that close the gender gap; a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the workplace; improved workplace conditions; safe public transport; expanded access to business credit; affordable quality child care; and financial inclusion.
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Youth unemployment is significantly impacted by shocks and stressors like the residual effects of the global pandemic, economic slowdown, rising costs, and inflation. A slowdown in local or global growth, coupled with a rise in the cost of living, housing, and other essential goods and services - couple with the loss of key public resources for health, education and training, and food - further impact young people's health and well being, financial stability, and overall economic prospects.
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Physical and mental health has a profound impact on youth economic opportunity, and the health of local and global economies. Current research indicates that youth aged 18-25 years have the highest prevalence of experiencing any mental illness (33.7%), and that those who are not in school or employed are three-times more likely than their connected peers to develop depression and other mental health disorders. In other words, youth emotional wellbeing is directly linked to the outcomes of a young person’s transition into work.
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Government commitment to youth economic opportunity is vital to build strong, responsive systems for young people to access the education, training, and support services they need. Job creation is important but often falls far short of demand - with the majority of young people working in the informal economy, or moving between formal and informal jobs. Reforms and investments that create opportunity for young entrepreneurs and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are important,
Examples of policy and regulatory reform to address these challenges include things like bridging policy, reforms, and investments in programs that promote job creation and employment for young people, such as skill building, stronger private sector engagement, and national service-learning initiatives.
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Green and digital transitions can lead to new opportunities for young people, and create added complexity that can prevent their access to these markets due to education, training and skills gaps. Today, young people need skills that are responsive to market demand, future-oriented, and transferable.
Examples of future-oriented approaches include education and training that anticipate and aligns with future job market needs; expanded support for youth entrepreneurship and innovation - including access to networks, mentors, resources, and funding; the promotion of life-long learning and the ability to adapt as the market changes; and building transferable skills like financial literacy, digital literacy (healthy online habits), entrepreneurial skills; life skills, and/or soft skills or socio-emotional learning (SEL). In other words, skills that can be applied anywhere.
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Technology and especially generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping young peoples’ lives, transforming the way they learn, engage, and socialize - core pillars of child and youth development across every age and stage. AI is also changing how we work: the shape of industries and jobs, and the skills required in a changing workforce that has enormous implications for young people’s economic prospects.
AI is not just impacting young people: children and youth have a direct hand in shaping this new technology. Nearly 80% of young people are early adopters, interacting with AI multiple times a day, finding new ways to apply the benefits and power of AI to different aspects of their lives.
At the same time, a recent report on youth by youth (Global Shapers with the World Economic Forum) found that 87% of young people surveyed have concerns about the threats posed by AI such as misinformation and disinformation, cybersecurity threats, scams and deep fakes, as well as the potential for job displacement due to automation.
In other words, the picture on AI is mixed. As with all technology, AI can be a tool for good, and it can cause or accelerate harm - underscoring the need for strong safeguards alongside digital literacy that can protect young people’s rights, privacy, safety and enjoyment. AI also makes a powerful case for meaningful and inclusive youth engagement in its development, and in shaping current and future safeguards. As the biggest users of AI and as the generation with the most at stake, young people have a powerful role to play to ensure ethical innovation.