ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the dilemmas of measuring, framing and interpreting statistical counts of youth unemployment and labor force participation, analyze how the social problem of youth unemployment is used to promote business agendas, and point to alternative visions that seek to address the employment struggles of all generations together in the contemporary global economy. The current global economic crisis, there seems to be a trend to use statistics and other representations to emphasize youth unemployment rather than to diminish it, but to do this in order to reframe and distract attention away from the problem of unemployment. Klaus Schwab, founder and director of the World Economic Forum, has similarly argued that, youth unemployment is not new in Europe, but has been high for many years. These statements by private sector leaders in Europe provide some sense of why business elites have been so ready and willing to focus public and policy attention on the problem of youth unemployment.